My Fifth Week and the Hajj

I completed my fifth week of teaching yesterday. Many of our students didn't show up this week because it is the beginning of the Hajj, the most wonderful time of the year, and so everyone is travelling or getting together with their families. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and is an extremely important part of their faith (hence, a pillar). The five pillars are:

1. Declaring your belief in Allah as the only God, and in Muhammed as his prophet. This is called Shahada. Reciting this declaration is how one enters into the religion of Islam. I believe it is usually done with witnesses nearby but I'm not exactly clear on that.

2. Prayer 5 times daily. This is called Salah. I've mentioned this a few times but during five periods of the day Muslims pray towards the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

3. Paying yearly alms. This is called Zakah. It is a similar concept to tithing. It is giving money to the poor. A person pays 2.5% of their yearly savings (not income).

4. Fasting during Ramadan. This is called Sawm. During one month of the year Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset. The month of Ramadan occured before I arrived in Saudi.

5. And finally making a pilgrimage to Mecca, which is called the Hajj. Every Muslim is to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in their lifetime if they have the means and ability to do so.

Mecca is the holiest of sites in Islam. It is the location of the Grand Mosque in which is located the Ka'ba. The Ka'ba is small black cube shaped building and has ties to Abraham, Ishmael, and the prophet Muhammed. During the prophet Muhammed's time it was filled with idols until he cleansed the Ka'ba and destroyed the idols. It is this specific building that Muslims pray towards five times daily.

One of my students got very excited to show me many pictures of the Grand Mosque and the Ka'ba, and he told me many stories. Currently there is a massive building project to build an enormous and beautiful clock tower/hotel near the Mosque. Below is a picture of the Grand Mosque surrounded by potentially millions of people.

In case you were wondering, I did not take this picture. Nobody is ever allowed to go to this place unless they are Muslim. Which is too bad because as you can see it is a very beautiful place and I would love to visit. If you look closely you can see the Ka'ba located in the mosque. Below is an artists rendering of the Mecca Royal Clock Tower and Hotel, which is under construction currently and I think will soon be completed. When finished it will be the tallest building in Saudi Arabia and the largest Hotel in the entire world. This picture below is a real photograph of the tower with the Grand Mosque. Its literally mind blowing. Beautiful!Because of the Hajj I have 17 days off of school! Which is great, but due to the holiday and millions of pilgrims coming in and many of the Saudi's leaving the country for vacations, it makes it difficult for us to get around. We are going to try our best to travel within the country to various places, but we're not sure how that will go yet. So wish us luck! Hopefully I will have good stories to tell soon.