The Encyclopedia of World Religions

286 S Mecca, pilgrimage to

the coast of the Red Sea. They put on a simple, white garment worn specifically for the pilgrim age. They also vow not to cut their hair or their fin gernails or to engage in sexual activity during the course of the pilgrimage. To enter the sacred area, which includes the other sites to be visited as well as Mecca, a person must be able to demonstrate that she or he is Muslim. The Saudi government does not recognize separation of religion and gov ernment, so the government controls entrance to the sacred area. Since 630 C . E . very few non-Mus lims have entered the sacred area. One who did was the English explorer Richard Burton (1821–90) in 1853. The first act most pilgrims perform is a ritual circling of the Kaaba. They circle the Kaaba seven

rise of Islam, people in the region used to make pilgrimage to the Kaaba. In the year 630 C . E ., the prophet M UHAMMAD purified it of the 360 images it contained. He also established pilgrimage to Mecca as an important Islamic RITUAL . All Muslims should try to make pilgrimage to Mecca at least once. But this requirement should not pose any hardship. Muslims are not allowed to make the pilgrimage if they have debts or must incur debts to do so, if they are too ill to travel, or if their participation would mean difficulties for those left behind. Pilgrimage takes place during the first half of the last month of the Islamic year. (Muslims use a lunar calendar, so as the years go by, the date of the pilgrimage slowly progresses through all the seasons.) Pilgrims traditionally arrive at Jidda on

A bird’s-eye view of the Kaaba crowded with pilgrims (Library of Congress)