"What's Haaajj anyway?"

A few weeks ago I sat in the dentist chair waiting on my new dentist to enter the room. This new office was cozy. Nice soft tones. Calm lighting. Not sterile at all. The doc entered the room and he was energetic and wide-eyed. "Hey! How are youu?" His "you" was drawn out like a short song. I liked him. This would be my new dental home.

We started to get to know one another and he was asking questions about my treatment schedule. 

"I may need to get this done when I get back in town in October."

"Ooo, where ya goin'?"

"Oh. I'm going to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage."

His forehead wrinkled and he squinted his eyes a little then said "What's Haaajj?"

"Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca? Millions of people...every year?" I was completely thrown off and honestly a little ashamed that I was shocked someone wasn't aware of my religious practices.

It was at this point that I realized those huge pictures I grew up seeing with little white specks, representing devoted believers and beggars for God's mercy, circling a huge "black box" may not be significant or familiar to everyone. I began to think about what a big deal this trip is for so many Muslims.  I could almost hear the audio clips of the Adhan (call to prayer) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. I saw flashes of various documentaries through my mind and wondered "How could someone NOT know about this?" My second thought was "Aren't you Jewish?" I kind of laughed to myself at the second thought. Since Muslim and Jewish spiritual roots are so close, I kind of thought he may have heard of it because of that also. I realized that although I have grown a lot since my high school and other adolescent experiences, I still held onto some assumptions. I assumed everyone at least knew something about this huge faith tradition comprising millions of people every year. I began to question what other assumptions I held. It was a nice reminder and wake up call. 

In any case, after a few more of these experiences, and suggestions to start a Hajj blog, I decided to go ahead and get typing. Check out the links below for more Hajj info. You can see the history of this monumental spiritual practice, where Muslims strive to become closer to God through emulating practices of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his wife Hagar. I'll make an additional post with what Hajj means to me after this one.

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About Hajj:

Quick National Geographic Video:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/culture-places/beliefs-and-traditions/saudiarabia_mecca/

Article from Islamicity.com:

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/jlthajj/LifeTimeJourney.shtml