SPRINGVALE students celebrated the season of Hajj with a schoolyard pilgrimage.
The juniors at Minaret College’s Springvale campus participated in a simulation of the Hajj rites on 11 October.
Muslims from all over the world converge on Mecca during this time of the year to perform a series of rituals – the largest gathering of Muslim people in the world.
It’s one of the five pillars of Islam and a religious duty every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to must carry out at least once in their lifetime.
“It is a great opportunity to teach the children the importance of Hajj and its rituals,” junior primary school leader Fairooza Gaffar said.
“It is also a fun and interesting way for the students to learn the concept of Hajj.
“This is the first time that an event of this nature is being celebrated not only in the school but also in the south eastern suburbs.”
During Hajj, each pilgrim walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building that acts as the Muslim direction of prayer.
They run back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drink from the Zamzam Well, go to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil and throw stones in a ritual Stoning of the Devil.
The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform an animal sacrifice and celebrate the three-day global festival of Eid al-Adha.
Minaret students heard all about Hajj before moving through models of the ritual stations dressed in similar attire to those making the real pilgrimage.
“It is very much an expression of our school’s mission to integrate faith-based activities into school life,” Ms Gaffar said.
