The Muslim pilgrimage, hajj, is the observance of specific acts in places in and

around the sacred city of Mecca in Arabia at the end of each Muslim year during the twelfth

lunar month of Zhul-Hajj. The observances of hajj are based on the Holy Qur’an (2:196-203,

3:96-97, 22:26-30) and the sunnah the practice of the Prophet Muhammad, (may the Peace

and blessings of Allah be upon him). They commemorate certain events in the lives of the

Prophet Ibrahim, his wife Hagar and their son Prophet Ismail, peace upon them. The main

object of the hajj, as in any other form of Islamic worship, is to create the spirit of submission

to God and to nourish spiritual joy. The spirit of the hajj is the spirit of total sacrifice —of

personal comforts, worldly pleasures, the acquisition of wealth, the companionship of

relatives and friends, the vanities of dress and personal appearance, and of pride relating to

birth, national origin, accomplishments, work, or social status. Along with the declaration of

faith (shahadatayn), prayer (salat) five times a day, fasting (sawm) during the month of

Ramadan, and alms (zakat), making the pilgrimage at least once in a Muslim’s lifetime

completes the five fundamental personal obligations of the Muslim. The unity of place and

time as well as its regular annual occurrence gives the rite of pilgrimage in Islam great

religious importance especially among the West African Muslims (Takari, sing, Tukrur Pl) of

which the Hausa stands out 1

. Pilgrimage is among the Islamic institutions that made the most

important contributions to the development of states already formed 2

.