Skip to content

Hajj: Seven things you don't know about the Muslim Pilgrimage

Millions of Muslims from all around the world are gathering in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform Hajj - the Muslim pilgrimage .It takes place only once a year, in the 12th and final month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Fahima Abdulrahman tells you seven facts about the Hajj.

Graphics: Ismail Moneer

Producer: Dina Demrdash

20 August 2018

Explore More

Saida Wurie

Heartbreaking last text from mum before Hajj heat death

A Muslim boy in a sweet shop

Agra: Indian Muslims talk about 'changing times'

Yousra Elsadig

Welsh Muslims discuss Ramadan in shadow of wars

Two women smiling at the camera

Cathedral celebrates multiple faiths at Grand Iftar

Tabussum Niamat

The community Iftar where food is 'love language'

Image of Djamaa el Djazaïr mosque in Algeria

Inside Africa’s biggest mosque

Protesters gather around fire

Protesters set fire to Swedish embassy in Baghdad

Eid al-Adha celebrated in Sefton Park

Thousands celebrate Eid al-Adha in city park

Sabah Ahmedi outside the Baitul Futuh Mosque

Meet one of Britain’s youngest imams

Tahirah Ali powerlifting

Muslim powerlifter urges others to take up sport

Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi with his mascot Suhail on the International Space Station

Watch: Astronaut sends Eid greeting from space

Muslims bow their heads in prayer at a Belfast event to celebrate Eid

'It's so nice to celebrate Eid together'

Northern Ireland

Zara Omar

'Community iftar is the best thing we have'

Leeds & West Yorkshire

Poet Ayan Aden

Artists and community come together for iftar

Birmingham & Black Country

Humza Yousaf in the Scottish Parliament

Who is Scotland's new first minister, Humza Yousaf?

Security person in Ottawa station

Muslim told not to pray at Canadian train station

Woman wearing a Hijab in Nigeria

'A hijab doesn’t stop me from living my best life'

Fatima Cates' gravestone

Victorian woman who converted to Islam honoured

Cristiano Ronaldo speaking at a press conference in Saudi Arabia

Ronaldo makes gaffe at first Saudi press conference

Abdullah al-Salmi

'I walked 1,600km to the World Cup'

Adam Kassak (on the left) and Ali Baydoun smile at the camera with their arms crossed in front of their chests

Beirut: Meet the TikTokers filming destroyed homes

In Beirut, two TikTokers are filming the damage caused by Israeli air strikes for families who have fled.

Damaged building in Iran

Strikes on Tehran another big escalation - Jeremy Bowen

Israel has launched air strikes on Iran, with blasts heard in the capital Tehran.

Projectiles in sky over Tehran

Projectiles seen in sky over Tehran

Israel says it has conducted "precise strikes on military targets" in Iran.

Daniel Hagari

Watch: Israeli military announces strikes in Iran

Rear Adm Daniel Hagari says the strikes are in response to Iran "relentlessly attacking" Israel.

Dust tornado

Dust tornado and lightning captured on camera in UAE

Drivers near the city of Sharjah stopped their cars to watch the spiralling spectacle.

The BBC's Orla Guerin is taken on a tour of Al Sahel Hospital in Beirut

BBC tours hospital Israel says sits above millions in Hezbollah gold

The BBC’s Orla Guerin is taken on a tour of Al Sahel Hospital in Beirut.

Yahya Sinwar

BBC Verify analyses footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's killing

The BBC's analysis editor Ros Atkins looks at footage said to show Yahya Sinwar's final moments.

A person sitting in an armchair outlined in red in IDF video

IDF drone footage 'shows Sinwar in final moments'

Drone footage released by the Israeli military on Thursday is said to show Sinwar in the moments before he was killed.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu says focus on hostages after Sinwar death

Sinwar, who topped Israel's most-wanted list, was a key figure believed to have been behind the 7 October attacks.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, in the BBC newsroom

What the death of Yahya Sinwar means for the Middle East

The Israel Defense Forces say it has killed the Hamas leader, the man seen as responsible for 7 October.

Hammoud and Khalid

‘I say bye to my kids, in case we don’t wake up’ – two Gazans film a year under attack by Israel

Over the past year, Aya and Khalid have been filming their lives for a BBC documentary.

BBC Verify analyses footage from Gaza strikes

The BBC's Nick Eardley examines what we know about the latest Israeli strikes on Gaza.

Nick Eardley from BBC Verify

BBC Verify examines air strike patterns in Beirut

Lebanon's health ministry says 22 people have died and more than 117 were left wounded after air strikes in central Beirut.

A composite image showing a strike and Nick Eardley talking to camera

BBC Verify examines footage revealing scale of damage in Lebanon

BBC Verify’s Nick Eardley analyses videos that reveal the extent of damage caused by Israeli strikes.

A woman sitting in a garden

How do young Palestinians and Israelis see their future?

Jeremy Bowen speaks to young Palestinians and Israelis about the ongoing war and how they see the future.

The BBC's Rushdi Abualouf

‘Daily challenge to get stories out of Gaza’ - BBC's Rushdi Abualouf

The BBC's Rushdi Abualouf sheds light on the challenges of reporting the war from inside and outside of Gaza.

Two people hug at an event remembering victims of Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel

Israel remembers victims of 7 October attack a year on

Events have taken place across Israel to commemorate the victims of Hamas's attack.

Hadas Kalderon

Israeli hostage family's fight 'not over' one year on

On the one-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks in Israel, survivor Hadas Kalderon speaks to the BBC.

Explosion in Beirut, Lebanon

Powerful explosion rocks Beirut overnight

Multiple blasts shake the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital amid Israeli air strikes.

Hugo Bachega in Beirut

'Bags of sweets amid rubble of flattened Beirut building'

The BBC's Hugo Bachega reports from the scene of an overnight Israeli strike in Lebanon.