Hello! Thankyou for the opportunity to join your forum! I am a student in my final year of high school, and I am researching the changing nature and role of the Hajj in the Muslim life. I have been interested in Islam for some time and as part of my research I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to hear from Muslim people from around the world about their opinions and experiences of the Hajj. It doesn’t matter whether you have performed the Hajj yet or not, it would be great to hear what you have to say about the following questions or the Hajj in general.

The questions below should take about 5 minutes to answer, depending on how detailed you want to be! Feel free to leave out any of the personal questions if you like- they will just help me to see whether the answers represent all the different types of people in the Muslim community (so please be honest!). Your answers will help me and those who read my final report to understand a little more of what Islam and the Hajj are all about.

If you would like to be involved with further research, can you also let me know? I would love to ask some more questions, particularly about how the Hajj has changed since the early centuries, and any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

You may find it useful to copy the questions to your reply and answer them that way.
1)Gender:
2)Age: (please choose from: under 18, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60+)
3)Country of Residence:
4)Country of Birth:
5)Would you consider yourself to be either Sunni or Shi’ite? If yes, please specify which one; or any other school of thought to which you adhere.

6)Do you believe all Muslims should undergo the Hajj at some point? How important is it to perform the Hajj?
7)What do you consider to be the purpose of the Hajj? What would you hope/ intend to achieve by undergoing the Hajj?

8)If you have performed Hajj before:
a)What do you regard as the best experience of your Hajj journey, and why?
b)Was there anything about your Hajj journey that was different to what you were expecting?
c)Was there any aspect of your Hajj journey which you found to be disappointing, or you think should have been organised (by the relevant authorities or travel agents) in a different way?
d)Do you intend to go again?

9)If you have not yet performed the Hajj, what has prevented you from going? Do you intend to go at some later date?

10)Would you be able to help me with further research? (This would involve answering some more questions, probably by email. Of course I would not disclose your email address to anyone).

Thankyou very much for all your help!

I am very happy to help in any way I can.

1) Gender: Male

2) Age: Under 18 (but mature!)

3) Country of residence: England

4) Country of Birth: England (but my parents are from Mauritius)

5) Sunni, Shi'ite or any school of thought: Not applicable. As you will hear from many other members too, we are just muslims. The wrath of Allah is upon those who divide the religion. I also don't feel that I belong to any particular school of thought.

6) I believe all muslims should try their utmost best to perform their Hajj at some point if they are physically and financially capable. In fact, I'm sure there is an islamic ruling on that. Ansar should know .

9) I have not yet had the opportunity to perform my Hajj due to some problems which I do not wish to expand upon if that is ok with you. However, it still remains a dream to be fulfilled.

10) Sure! I'll try my best although I might not be much help.

I hope this helped a little bit.

asalam o alaykum
1. female
2.18
3.england
4.england....
5. sunni..follow the hanafi mathab
6.it is very important to perform hajj coz its one of the pillars of islam..we r told to peform hajj and we should do so unless we r extremely poor and have no money whatso eva to perform hajj
7.the purpose of performing hajj is coz ..erm..its a pilgrimage yh..our prophets pbuh had performed hajj..also the kaabah is there ...its a spiritual journey.....dnt kno how to reallli ansa this question...mayb som1 else might b able to ansa this question ..coz at the mo im struggling to put the things in words......nway..
8.best experience of hajj journey ws the erm....let me think ......erm..best experience ws doing the tawaf...veri precious moment ..a moment which i wont eva forget ......
it ws a beautiful journey..i didnt find anything disapointing .....oh yh ..there were quite afew dodgey guys ova der wid the wrong intentions...lollz...dirty perverts...nway....
i intend to go again inshallah ..one day ...

1)Gender: Female
2)Age: Under 18
3)Country of Residence: USA
4)Country of Birth: USA

6)Do you believe all Muslims should undergo the Hajj at some point? How important is it to perform the Hajj?
Yep, I do believe it its compulsory to go for Hajj, if the person is financially/phsyically able for it. Its one of the five pillars of Islam, so that in itself prooves its importance.

7)What do you consider to be the purpose of the Hajj? What would you hope/ intend to achieve by undergoing the Hajj?
I think the purpose of Hajj is to get closer to Allah SWT and increase a person's imaan, and basically leading one's life as a true Muslim should.

8)If you have performed Hajj before:
a)What do you regard as the best experience of your Hajj journey, and why?
Hm..there are so many. Seeing the Kabah for the first time was definately unique though. Its the place we face when praying, and soo amazing when its right there in front of you. No words can describe it well. *sniffles* And 5 days of Hajj, particularly Arafah. I think Arafah is the place where the day of Reckoning will take place. And when you stand there with millions of other Muslims, you kinda stand in fear, imagining what it will be like on the day of reckoning...

b)Was there anything about your Hajj journey that was different to what you were expecting?
I think it was kinda easier then I expected... Although there were a few obstacles, it didn't feel like anything major.

c)Was there any aspect of your Hajj journey which you found to be disappointing, or you think should have been organised (by the relevant authorities or travel agents) in a different way?
I didn't find anything dissapointing. And if there is a lack of organized routines, its to be expected due to the millions of people that are there.

d)Do you intend to go again?
Yup, inshaAllah, I'd love to. :love:

9)If you have not yet performed the Hajj, what has prevented you from going? Do you intend to go at some later date?

10)Would you be able to help me with further research? (This would involve answering some more questions, probably by email. Of course I would not disclose your email address to anyone).
Sure, no problem. Let me know, and I'll try to help inshaAllah if I can.