Symbolism of Hajj

As a teacher in the Middle East, the annual Hajj takes on special importance to me and my students. Every year, Muslim students in schools around the world discuss the pilgrimage, build models of the holy sites, act out the pilgrimage rites, read stories, and more. As teachers, we encourage the students to think about... "What does it all mean? What can we learn from this experience?"

One of the children's favorite stories is about the pilgrimage of the American Muslim convert, Malcolm X. In his letters at the time, he wrote: "They asked me what about the Hajj had impressed me the most. . . . I said, `The brotherhood! The people of all races, colors, from all over the world coming together as one! It has proved to me the power of the One God.' . . . All ate as one, and slept as one. Everything about the pilgrimage atmosphere accented the oneness of man under one God."

If every child had the opportunity to live and experience this sense of brotherhood, this would certainly be a more peaceful world.