While the specific rituals carried out by Muslims today date back to the  "farewell pilgrimage" of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be to him, in 632 AD, pilgrimage to Makkah was a sacred annual rite for Arabian tribes centuries before, beginning with the call made by Prophet Abraham after he along with his son Prophet Isma’il built there the first House of God on earth. It is a religious obligation for all able-bodied and financially sound Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is observed for five days in the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar, called Dhul-Hijjah, between the eighth and 13th days of the month. 

Male pilgrims enter into ihram, a pilgrim’s sacred state when crossing the outer boundaries of Makkah, called Miqat, which is a declared destination on all sides of the city. They wear two white seamless cloths. They perform the Hajj rituals in this state, which is meant to show equality before Allah. One of the cloths is wrapped around the waist reaching below the knee while the other is draped over the left shoulder and tied at the right side. Female pilgrims are allowed to wear any modest dress. 

The pilgrims perform ablution at the Miqat, declare their intention for Hajj and then refrain from all prohibited activities, including sexual relations, using perfumes, cutting nails, shaving and slaughtering animals during the duration of the Hajj.

Day 1:

On the first day of Hajj, pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba for the welcoming tawaf (also called the circumambulation of the Kaaba) and kiss the black stone. This is followed by prayers inside the mosque near the Kaaba and then drinking water from the Zamzam well, which was gushed out when Abraham’s crying son Isma’il was placed when his mother went out looking for water for him. The pilgrims then move to the Safa and Marwah hills near the Kaaba where they either run or walk seven times between the hills, to symbolically emulate the run Isma’il’s mother Hajjar did in search of water for her son.

Day 2:

After the Morning Prayer, the pilgrims proceed to Mina where they spend the whole day in prayer.

Day 3:

All pilgrims then move to Arafat the next day and stand in vigil from noon to sunset to offer supplications, seek repentance and listen to sermons from where Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be to him, delivered his last sermon. The ritual at Arafat is the ultimate day of Hajj and is considered compulsory if the pilgrimage is to be considered successful. After sunset prayers, all pilgrims leave the hills of Arafat for Muzdalifah where they combine two prayers and spend the night in the open fields and gather small pebbles for the next day’s ritual.

Day 4, 5 and 6:

All pilgrims move to Mina to perform the first rami, which is throwing seven pebbles at the largest of three pillars/columns, known as Jamarat. 

On this day, animals like sheep or goats are slaughtered after the ‘stoning’ to commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice to God when he obeyed the command to sacrifice his son. This day is also the day Muslims worldwide will celebrate the Eid al-Adha festival.

Male pilgrims completely shave their hairs after the sacrifice and females clip pieces of their hair. They then head to the holy mosque at Makkah for another circumambulation of the Kaaba.

Pilgrims do another round of ‘stoning’ at each of the three pillars. The same ritual is done on the fifth day before proceeding to Makkah.  However, optionally they may stay one more day there on the sixth day of Hajj and do the ‘stoning.’ At Makkah, the pilgrims perform another circumambulation of the Kaaba called the ‘farewell tawaf’ for seven times. After this tawaf, the Hajj pilgrimage is finally completed.

Thus the rituals of Hajj are completed in 5 to 6 days, five days obligatory for everyone and six days for pilgrims who opt for staying an extra day in Mina.

MADINAH VISIT:

Hajj rituals are over in 5-6 days, as above. However, almost all pilgrims, particularly those coming from outside Saudi Arabia, make it a point to visit Madinah, the second holiest city in Islam, where the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be to him, is buried along with his closest companions. No period is fixed for this. Some pilgrims visit Madinah before Hajj while others go there after Hajj, depending upon their travel schedules.