The Hajj is a monumental event that brings over two million Muslims together for a week every year. It consists of several rites, all preformed within certain times, creating a logistical nightmare. The most widely recognized rite is the Tawaf Al-Ifadah, the final circumbation of the Kaba (seen to the left), which entails circling the Kaba seven times. With the ever-increasing number of pilgrims, this event alone has created a strain on the Holy Mosque, which has been expanded forty fold in the past fifty years to accommodate the increased activity.

Mohammed, the founder of Islam, started the tradition of the Hajj in 632 C.E. when, at 62 years of age and knowing that he was dying, made the first Hajj called the Farewell Hajj. He died later that year, but the tradition of the Hajj has lived on. Soon after his death, it became the fifth pillar of Islam following Shahadah, the profession of one's faith, Salah, ritual prayer five times a day, Zakat, the giving of alms to the poor, and Sawm, or the act of fasting during the daylight hours of the Holy month of Ramadan. As the fifth pillar of Islam, all Muslims are called upon to preform the Hajj at least once during their lifetime as long as their health or families do not suffer from it.

One major problem the city faces with accommodating this incredible number of pilgrims has been the task of housing them all. Every year, the Saudi Arabian government erects massive tent cities (pictured below) for those not able to get rooms in Makkah's slew of hotels. They are all air conditioned through a central unit and are made of fire proof material to avoid catastrophes like those that have occurred in the past. While they work well, some of the disasters have been inevitable.

Up until the modern Saudi government that came to power in 1932, pilgrims could expect to pay substantial tariffs to the occupiers of Makkah and the rulers of the lands they passed through to get there. The Saudi government eradicated the additional cost, making the Hajj more accessible. However, the government does set a statute of the frequency of pilgrimages. Pilgrims are only allowed to make the Hajj once every five years. This limitation has managed to keep the number of pilgrims to a vaguely manageable level without burdening them with any extra costs. In addition, all pilgrims must register with a mutawwif who, along with the Mutawwa'iin, is responsible for their safety during the Hajj. The mutawwif also provide direction to help with the confusing rites of the Hajj.

With the increased number of pilgrims the Hajj has become a major commercial event. The hotels and commercial centers in Makkah vie for space around the Holy Mosque. This increased land value has caused most of the structures within walking distance of the Holy Mosque to shoot up to thirty stories. In addition there has been a proliferation of services associated with tourism. For example, the pilgrim to the left is being pictured with a canvas backdrop of the Kaba. This behavior has alarmed a few of the more orthodox Muslims, but seems to be embraced by the vast majority who have incorporated their modern customs into this ancient event.

Another major adjustment that has occurred with the explosion of the magnitude of the Hajj has been in the sacrificing of an animal to God on the third day. In the past, every pilgrim would bring their own animal to sacrifice. This led to a mass waste of meat. In order to avoid this problem, the Saudi Arabian government established a modern meat packing factory in Mina, just Southeast of Makkah, to sacrifice the animals for the pilgrims and then package the meat for later distribution. Today, the plant sacrifices approximately fifty thousand sheep and twenty thousand camels each year during the Hajj. The extra meat is distributed internationally to countries in distress as part of the Kingdom's international emergency relief programs.

Other changes have involved the basic movement of pilgrims during the Hajj. One of the rites is to run or walk back and forth between the two hills, Safa and Marwah, seven times to symbolize Hagar's desperate search in the desert for water. Today, the path is paved, covered, and air-conditioned and encompassed by the Holy Mosque. It's not exactly what Hagar endured, but it is symbolic.

Another addition has been the construction of bridges above and below three pillars in Arafat that symbolize the three times Satan tempted Abraham to ignore God's order to sacrifice his son. The ritual is called the Stoning of the Devil and it consists of throwing pebbles at the pillars, symbolically rejecting Satan.With the new bridges, hundreds more are able to reject the Devil simultaneously from above and below.

One of the problems that continues to plague the government is supplying water to all of the pilgrims in Makkah's arid climate. The best solution so far has been to build the King Fahd Cooled Water Charity Factory that produces forty million one-liter plastic bags of drinking water for distribution during the Hajj in addition to the regular resources of the city. This has greatly eased the strain, but it is still only twenty bags of water for each pilgrim over the week long event.

Just seventy years ago, only thirty thousand Muslims made the journey to participate in the Hajj. With the advent of air travel, the number blossomed to two hundred and fifty thousand. Today, more then two million Muslims from one hundred and thirty countries participate in this massive event. With the burgeoning number of Muslims in the world, the number is sure to continue to increase. This single event has helped place Makkah on the map as the cultural and spiritual center for more the one fifth of the world's population.