er to cleanse the body and the other is internal purification. This is done by repeating “O Allah, I sincerely repent on my sins and seek your forgiveness. When purification is complete, men will put on two seamless white sheets, one for the upper and one for the lower body. Women will wear a simple white dress with a scarf covering their face. At this point, they will now be able to begin the journey.When the Muslims reach the imaginary boundary around Makkah, called Miqat, they must pronoun their intention to perform Hajj. They do this by saying the words of Talbiyah,“ O Allah, I intend to perform Umrah. Please make it easy for me and accept it from me. Amen”. This is to be said three times in a row. When this is done they will now be in the status of Ihram. At this point Muslims may not do acts forbidden in Iham. Things such as shave, cut hair, wear perfume, or engage in intercourse. When they arrive at their destination, they are to proceed to Haram Sharif.When they reach Haram Sharif, pilgrims perform the initial Tawaf, which is a circular, counter-clockwise procession around the Ka’ba. All while they state Labbayka Allahmma Labbayk, which means “Here I am at your service, O God, here I am!”(Peters 127) The Tawat is meant to awaken the belief that God is the center of their reality and the source of all the meanings of life, and that each persons higher self-identity derives from being part of the community of Muslim believers, called Ummah (Peters 129 ). At no point during the Tawaf are the pilgrims to face away from the Ka’ba, unless they are kissing or pointing towards the Hajar-E-Aswad. After the seven round s of the Ka’ba the Muslims are to perform the Sa’ey.The literal meaning of the word Sa’ey is to run or make an effort to. As a Hajj term, Sa’ey is the walking back and fourth between Marwah and the hills of Safa, which are located to the north and...
