What do we know about the historical routes in Somalia used for Hajj

What do we know about the historical routes in Somalia used for Hajj

On Tuesday, April 26, 2026, it coincides with the day of Arafah when millions of Muslims from around the world will fulfill their Hajj obligations and stand at the mountain of Arafah. Now, what do we know about the historical routes that pilgrims used hundreds of years ago.

Imagine a group of pilgrims coming from China embarking on a long journey starting from China, passing through Persia, Iraq, and crossing the Arabian Peninsula, with the aim of reaching the blessed city of Medina before continuing to the city of Mecca to perform Hajj.

This story is not fictional, but historical facts that some of the pilgrims have experienced for over a thousand years. That journey would take the pilgrim months. It is possible that they would not return to their homeland for many years, as was the case with Ibn Jubayr and also the journey of the Andalusian Ibn Battuta.

At that time, Hajj was not just a religious obligation that one would endure hardships and difficulties for, but it was also a great opportunity to exchange news, knowledge, languages, and experiences before modern media.

Hajj was a cause for the revival of structures and civilizations, and it was also a great business opportunity.

This journey was not only the routes that pilgrims took when traveling to the blessed land as mentioned in the Holy Quran, but they were also important routes connecting the heart of the Islamic world, as Dr. Sayed Abdel-Majeed Bakar mentioned in his book "Geographical Features of the Hajj Routes."

These routes carried the signs of civilization; mosques, resting places, large houses, castles, and water wells built along the way, and they became a testament to Islamic civilization, which travelers and historians have recorded in golden pages.

The Hajj routes also provided an opportunity for scholars of Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, language, and literature to meet, passing through the streets of major Islamic cities like Damascus, Jerusalem, Kufa, Basra, Baghdad, and Cairo, to Mecca and Medina.

The journey of the pilgrims included what are known as "resting places," which historians have stated were places to stop, providing many benefits to the pilgrims and the residents of those countries, which is the most beautiful way of interaction and cultural exchange.

Pilgrims would come from the farthest corners of the earth, China and India, east of the Atlantic Ocean and Europe, and eventually join the pilgrims traversing the routes of Arab and Islamic countries, the most famous of which are Iraq, Sham, and Egypt.

As the pilgrims approach the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, they are marked to enter the state of Ihram from five geographical boundaries set by Prophet Muhammad for the pilgrims to enter Ihram. Pilgrims are not allowed to cross these boundaries until they wear the Ihram clothing before entering Mecca.