Write on any three of the following rites of Hajj. (a) Ihram (b) Tawaf (c) sa'y (d) wuquf bil 'Arafah (e) Ramy

Three rites of Hajj

The following are three of the essential rites performed during the pilgrimage to Makkah:

1. Ihram: This is the sacred state of consecration a pilgrim enters before crossing the appointed boundary (Miqat). The male pilgrim removes his sewn garments and wears two unstitched white sheets, one wrapped round the waist and the other over the shoulder; the woman wears her ordinary modest dress. The pilgrim makes the intention (niyyah) and pronounces the Talbiyah: Labbayk Allahumma labbayk. In this state certain acts become forbidden, such as cutting hair or nails, hunting, using perfume, and marital relations.
2. Tawaf: This is the circumambulation of the Ka'bah seven times in an anticlockwise direction, beginning and ending at the Black Stone (Hajarul-Aswad). The pilgrim, keeping the Ka'bah on his left, glorifies Allah and supplicates during each round, then prays two rak'ahs behind the Station of Ibrahim (Maqam Ibrahim).
3. Sa'y: This is the brisk walking or running seven times between the two small hills of Safa and Marwah. It commemorates the desperate search of Hajar, wife of Prophet Ibrahim, for water for her infant son Isma'il, which ended with the miraculous gushing of the Zamzam well. It teaches perseverance and trust in Allah.