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Recreating a holy journey

Students simulate the hajj, the trip to Mecca and fifth pillar of Islam.

By SHERRI DAY
Published December 23, 2006

TAMPA - More than 7,000 miles from Mecca, students at the American Youth Academy Friday began a holy journey.

Tucked into a school pavilion, the children simulated the five-day hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city. The ritual, which occurs every year during the 12th month of the lunar calendar, begins Dec. 28. Pilgrims, as the religious travelers are called, spend the journey re-enacting significant events in the lives of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael.

The hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and a Koranic requirement of every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime.

As Tampa's pint-sized pilgrims began their hajj Friday, they chanted, signaling they were ready to embark. The older children spoke in Arabic. The youngest, at 3, sang "We Will Go to Mecca on the Hajj" to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It.

Before one class of eager second-graders could move forward, a quiz.

"What are you about to do now?" asked Islamic studies teacher Dalia Emara.

A half-dozen hands shot up.

"Go around the Kaaba," shouted Abdullah Nassar, 7, referring to the practice of circling the building in Mecca toward which Muslims pray five times a day.

Then, Emara sent them on their way.

At one station, the students watched as a teacher pretended to slice the neck of a pinata-like lamb with a plastic knife, signifying Abraham's sacrifice of a lamb rather than his son. A few steps away, students mimicked Hagar, running between two points in search of water for baby Ishmael.

Excitement abounded from students, camera-toting parents and teachers, many of whom had tears in their eyes.

"This is something we've been wanting to do for many years," said Magda Saleh, the school's principal. "Every year, so many of our parents and community members go to Mecca, and our kids have never experienced it. This way, when they read it in their Islamic studies book, it has a lot more meaning."

Awad Hassan beamed as he watched his children participate.

"I'm excited," said Hassan, 42. "I went last year and told them about it. So when they see it, they know where I went exactly."

For many of the students, throwing stones at the devil as he tried to tempt Abraham was a high point. Ahmed Said enjoyed drinking water from Zamzam, the well that sprung up to quench Hagar and Ishmael's thirst in the desert. A local grocer donated jugs of the water, imported from Saudi Arabia, so students could taste the real thing.

"It tastes like regular water, but it's really good," said Ahmed, 8.

The simulation awakened a desire to go to Mecca for 8-year-old Nada Blassy.

"I hope one day that my parents will take me to the real hajj," she said. "I have learned all the steps."

The hajj was more than a lesson for students. Parents took notes too.

"We've just heard about these things, but we've never been there," said Wafa Irshaid, 36, a New Tampa homemaker and mother four. "Now, I feel like I'm there."

Sources: Times files; Ministry of Hajj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fast facts

The trip to Mecca

Pilgrimage, or Hajj: Muslims who are physically or financially able are supposed to journey to Mecca, Saudia Arabia, at least once in their lives. A number of rituals must be performed during the hajj, including walking in a circular path around the Kaaba, animal sacrifices, casting stones at pillars that represent the devil and spending a night in the desert.

The Kaaba: The Kaaba is the cube-like structure in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to which all Muslims direct their daily prayers. During their pilgrimages to Mecca, Muslims walk in a circular pattern around the Kaaba. The structure's significance comes from the belief that it is the place of worship that God commanded Abraham and Ishmael to build more than 4,000 years ago. The building was constructed of stone on what many believe was the original site of a sanctuary established by Adam.

Timing: Occurs every year during the 12th month of the lunar calendar, begins Dec. 28.

Numbers: In 1996, 1,865,234 participated. By 2006, the number grew to 2,130,594.

[Last modified December 23, 2006, 06:08:00]