Philosophy of Hajj and Qurbani by Mufti Muhammed Taqi Usmani

The fifth and last Pillar of Islam is the Hajj. It is explicitly stated in the Holy Qur’an that every physically and financially able Muslim should make the Hajj to the Holy City of Makkah once in his or her lifetime. The Hajj is considered the culmination of each Muslim’s religious duties and aspiration. Muslims from all over the world seek to make the Hajj to the Holy City of Makkah, which occurs between the eighth and thirteenth days of the last month of the Islamic calendar – Dhu’l-Hijjah – of each year. Muslims travel thousands of miles to reach the Holy City of Makkah for the Hajj and perform the rituals in the same manner as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) almost fourteen centuries ago.animals are slaughtered to commemorate the story of Abraham and Ishmael. Traditionally the pilgrims slaughtered the animal themselves, or oversaw the slaughtering. Today many pilgrims buy a sacrifice voucher in Mecca before the greater Hajj begins, which allows an animal to be slaughtered in their name on the 10th, without the pilgrim being physically present. Centralized butchers sacrifice a single sheep for each pilgrim, or a camel can represent the sacrifice of seven people. The meat is then packaged and given to charity and shipped to poor people around the world.