Images of Hajj

I live vivaciously through the lives of others. Every Ramadan, I my free time at work browsing through the yahoo news photos of Ramadan celebrations around the world. Ramadan in the Twin Cities isn't bad, but it just isn't this or this. Seeing muslims celebrate, breaking their fast, making salat, and going about their daily lives during that sacred month helps me feel more connected to the muslim ummah.

And now it's hajj, so I will once again live vivaciously through pictures of pilgrims as they are in the midst of what is probably the highlight of their lives. I apologize for the formatting below. No matter how many times I fix it, it just goes right back to looking silly.

Ya Rabb, may my husband and I get to make hajj soon inshaAllah!

Muslim pilgrims circle around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca. Around two million Muslims will Thursday begin the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca amid increased safety measures aimed at preventing stampedes which each year claim scores of lives.(AFP/Mohammed Abed)

Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims performing the Hajj attend the afternoon prayers around the Kaaba, the black cube seen at center, inside the Grand Mosque, in Mecca, Wednesday Dec. 27, 2006. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Muslim Pilgrims performing the Hajj walk outside the Grand Mosque of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday Dec. 27, 2006. At least 2 million Muslims, from dozens of sects and around 160 countries, begin on Friday an exhausting five-day ritual that all able-bodied Muslims are required to make at least once in a lifetime. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Mecca from above : Muslim pilgrims pray in the holy city of Mecca in preparation for the annual Hajj. (AFP/Mohammed Abed)