Lofa Muslims Receive Rousing Welcome

A 42-person delegation of Liberian Muslims from Lofa County has recently returned home from Mecca, Saudi Arabia referred to as the Holy Land by Muslims around the world. The delegation was accompanied by Lofa District# 4 Representative, Haja Mariamu B. Fofana.
“This is the first time that such a huge number of Pilgrim Muslims from Lofa County has travelled to the Holy Land,” said Rep. Haja Mariamu B.Fofana, as she spoke to this paper.
The Lawmaker also emphasized that her involvement in the trip to the Holy Land is purely religious, and has no political intent or anything for personal aggrandizement or gratification but to bring all Muslims together in the county and in the nation as a whole.
Every year, over two million Muslims visit the country of Saudi Arabia to perform something called Hajj, a pilgrimage, or journey, that Muslims must make once in their lifetime, as long as they can afford it and are healthy enough.
It is one of the five pillars of Islam, the religion follows. These five pillars are important ways Muslims practice their religion, and they include faith, prayer, charity, fasting and Hajj.
Hajj takes place in the last month of the Islamic calendar, which is a lunar calendar. This means days in a month are based on the phases of the moon, which makes the Islamic year around 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar which is from January to December. So Hajj doesn’t happen at the same time each year; it moves back around 10 days every year on the Gregorian calendar.Pilgrims travel to Mount Arafat, a hill just outside of Mecca, and perform something called wuquf. This is where pilgrims ask Allah (God) for forgiveness for any past sins. They usually stay at the mount from noon until sunset praying. The wuquf is the most important part of Hajj and if a pilgrim doesn’t perform the wuquf, then their Hajj isn’t valid.