Drum – 08 August 2019

MATAF

Thematafisthe

open,whitearea

wherepilgrims

circletheKaaba

duringhajj.

TheKaabaisa windowlessbuildingconstructedofgreystoneandmarble.

It’s15mhigh,10-14mwideandhasonlyoneentrance.Insidearethreepillars

tosupporttheroof,aswellassilverandgoldlamps.Mostoftheyearthe

Kaabaisdrapedina blackclothwithgoldembroiderycalledtheKiswah.A

newoneismadeeachyearandbroughtfromEgypttoMeccabypilgrims.

DuringtheTawaf(“goingabout”)ritual,MuslimpilgrimscircletheKaaba

seventimesanti-clockwise.Theydothisatleasttwice,onceaspartofthe

HajjandthenasthelastactivitybeforetheyleaveMecca.

THEBLACKSTONE(al-Hajaral-Aswad), setintheeasterncorner

oftheKaababyMuhammad,isthoughttobetheonlyremnantof

Ibrahim’soriginalstructurethatwasgiventohimbyJibreel.It’s

beendamagedandbrokenintopiecesduringvariouswarsandis

nowmountedina silverframe.Athajj, pilgrimsstopandkissthe

stoneiftheycan,mimickingthekissMohammedissaidtohave

givenit.Ifa pilgrimcan’tgettoitbecauseofthecrowds,theypoint

atiteachoftheseventimestheycircletheKaaba.

GATES

More than 200 gates offer

entry to the Great Mosque.

Each gate is named after a

significant person, event or

place from Islamic history.

Many of the entrances are

situated between two

minarets.

MARWA

SA FA

SAFAANDMARWA

Thesetwohillsarenow

withinthemosquewalls.

TheQuransaysthatAllah

commandedIbrahimto

leavehiswifeHajar(Hagar)

andtheirbaby,Ishmael,

inthedesertandshe

searchedbetweenthese

twohillsforwater.

Allahmiraculouslycreat-

eda watersourceandthis

iswhereTheWellofZam-

zamislocatedtoday.

Waterfromthewellis

relayed via pipelines, from

which millions of pilgrims

drink during hajj.

To commemorate Hajar’s

courage and faith in Allah,

pilgrims walk seven times

between the two hills –

a distance of about 450 m –

during hajj.

THE KAABA

KAABA

AIREY, HERMES, 2006; WIKIHOW.COM; WIKIPEDIA.ORGCOM; THEGUARDIAN.COM; THE COMPLETE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SIGNS & SYMBOLS BY MARK O'CONNELL AND RAJE ACCORHOTELS.COM; MOULANA SAALIM PECK; NEWWORLDENCYCLOPEDIA.ORG; NEWSWEEK.COM; REUTERS.1996; ISLAMICLANDMARKS.COM; ISLAMICITY.COM; KHANACADEMY.ORG; LEARNRELIGIONS.COM; MAKKAH.CONTEMPORARY ISLAM, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN; HAJJ & UMRAH FROM A TO Z BY MAMDOUH N MOHAMED, SOURCES: ANCIENT.EU; BBC.COM; BLOG.REALESTATE.CORNELL.EDU; BRITANICCA.COM; CENTRE FOR

http://www.drum.co.za 8 AUGUST 2019 | (^61)