Word: pilgrims
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...preparation for the pilgrimage, the male pilgrim must wash his body, shed his everyday dress and wear two pieces of unsewn sheets: one around the waist and the other over the shoulders. The female pilgrim is required to wear a long dress and cover her hair. The pilgrimage is considered the most fortunate moment of one's life, the time when one can travel to the Blessed City asking for God's forgiveness, hoping for complete forgiveness of one's sins and transgressions. Thus men's sheets and women's dresses are usually white, signifying a purer rebirth...
With this dress the pilgrim enters the state of 'ihram' consecration. He must abstain from all modes of gratification of personal vanity, beautification of the body, and indulgence of its desires. More emphatically the pilgrim should refrain from hurting or destroying anything that is alive; peace must reign, especially then...
...this state, every pilgrim enters Mecca as an equal; all are humble before God. The King of Saudi Arabia, the President of Egypt, the Sultan of Omman, the Shah of Iran, all are indistinguishable from their subjects, dressed in the same two-sheet simple dress. Worldly conventions are discarded, distinctions eliminated, racial disparities unrecognized. One is freed from one's bondage to both oneself and others, affirming a direct commitment to the One and Only Being, admitting Him as the sole dispenser of one's fate. Coming to pay tribute to the Creator, the pilgrim is no longer a subject...
...whole wisdom of the pilgrimage unfolds as one walks along the valley of Arafat on this day. The pilgrim encounters millions of Moslems from all over the world. Though they are of different nationalities, races and colors, they all are united by the common bond of Islam. Asians, Africans, Arabs, Europeans and Americans all assemble there for a common purpose, joined by historical tradition. On this day the pilgrim awakens to the realization that he is part of a tremendous whole that goes beyond worldly distinctions and time restrictions. He feels the immense power of Islam as it weaves...
...home-coming of the pilgrims is vociferously celebrated. Some families light up the streets and houses with colored bulbs and offer sherbet and sweet drinks to visitors. Friends and relatives and neighbors call on the pilgrims to congratulate them on their trip to the Blessed Land and give them the well-deserved title of "haaj" (male pilgrim) and "haaja" (female pilgrim). Henceforth this title precedes their names, lending them a religious distinction and an honored social status...