photographs © Ali Kazuyoshi Nomachi/PPS

Day Four, Day Five, Day Six – At dawn, pilgrims set out to accomplish one of the last of the Hajj rites: the ancient practice of stoning three pillars that symbolize temptation while calling on Allah (SWT) to accept their Hajj. The three pillars are stoned once a day for three days. Each pilgrim approaches the first pillar with one thing in mind: to aim well enough to hit the mark seven times.

The symbolism of the act is quite important: The Hajj has left its pilgrims with a clean conscience. But what about tomorrow? How will they maintain this state of awareness when they leave? The stoning is a form of athletic practice, a symbolic act designed to drive home the message that human error, sin, is a matter of missing the target; that if your aim is true, the pillar of wrong can be brought down by a little kernel of right action. Like the other rites, this simple act is full of meaning.

Journey: The Sacrifice

Day Four – Once the three pillars have been stoned on day four, male pilgrims must sacrifice a sheep individually (and on behalf of any female family members) or share in a cow or camel with six others. The sacrifice honors the ancient story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command, when at the last minute he was rewarded with his son's life and told to sacrifice an animal instead. The act of the sacrifice, echoed by Muslims around the world, closely binds the pilgrim to the roots of Islam.

The sacrifice also signifies a shift of the pilgrim's emotions. In keeping with a process of desacralization, male pilgrims have their heads shaved, while some males and all women clip a lock of hair. It is a symbolic way of saying, "I have changed; I am renewed." The special garments of the Hajj are changed now too for normal clothes. And thus the pilgrims are released from their ihram - and step back in to the trappings of life. It is the now the day of Eid-ul-Adha, the second of the two major Islamic holidays. The ultimate striving for spirituality, for true cleansing, for blind obedience to God is complete. The challenge now is take the intentions of the ihram state and apply it to life after the Hajj.

Journey: Greeting the Mosque, Part II

Day Four, Five, and Six – Pilgrims have been released from their ihram, and now they must return to the Grand Mosque for a second round of circling the Ka'bah seven times, performing the run between Safa and Marwa, and praying the short, two-part prayer. The mood now is significantly different from the first time: a pilgrim knows what to do, he is strengthened by the time he has spent in the desert, grounded by the pinnacle of emotions felt at Arafat. His dress is now different from his neighbor's, but the humble unity of Hajj still beautifully persists.