Family Fun: Hajj Re-enactment

BismIllah wa as salaamu alaykum wa Rahmat Allah

Something my children looked forward to was Hajj re-enactments that we did in our home. We used whatever was available to us and it was not only fun, but very funny masha'Allah.

Here are some of the things we did:

For the pretend flight to Saudi Arabia:

We set up 6 chairs in a room in double rows. This was our airplane. Additional props could be passports, airline tickets, suitcases, and Hajj books.

On pretend arrival in Saudi, we changed the configuration of the chairs to represent a car taking us to the meeqat and then to Masjid Al Haram.

We all pretended we were making ghusl at the meeqat and putting on ihram. The males wore towels and the girls all wore their little abayas and hijabs. Then we started with our talbiya, "Labbaik Allahumma labaik, labbaik Allah shareekah laka labaik, innal hamd, wa n'imata, lahu al Mulk, la sharika la."

Holding our instructions on how to perform Hajj and Umrah, we all approached the entrance of the "Haram"...the door to the girls' bedroom and said our dua' for entering. Then as we approached the "kaaba" made of waffle blocks covered with a sheet with a little rock painted black stuck on the top corner, we made the dua' for seeing the kaaba for the first time. We then made tawwaf, having the children keep count of our circuits around. Afterwards we proceeded to pray rakatain and go to the well of Zam Zam (our kitchen) to drink some blessed water. The we went to do our sai'e - which was in our living room. We had a pile of stuff in one corner covered with a sheet and another pile the other end covered with another sheet. We went back and forth between the two "mountains" reciting, "Innas-Safa wa al-Marwa min sha'air Allah" and keeping count of our trips back and forth.

Once we had completed sai'e, we all snipped a little bit of hair off.

For the Hajj sites, we camped in Mina by sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags. If the weather permits it would be fun to set up a tent in the back yard. For the day of Arafat, we all fasted and made dua'. I showed the children the hajjaj on the plain of Arafat all seeking Allah's Pleasure and Mercy. For the night in Muzdallifah, they slept on the floor in their sleeping bags and before they woke in the morning, I scattered the floor with packing peanuts (the "pebbles"). Upon waking, they gathered up their "pebbles" ready for the stoning at the jamaraat.

The hadi (sacrifice) was a ride on zebra, which they all took turns slaughtering. Then off to make tawwaf around the "kaaba" and on to the jamaraat to do the stoning. Our jamaraat was 3 thermos jugs on the table (floor would work too) covered in tea towels. They threw their pebbles and then repeated it for each day of the Eid. Before leaving, they did their final tawwaf around the 'kaaba'.

Much of the fun of this was using our imagination with the homemade and rudimentary props we had. Each year, and for each age, more detail can be given. In this way, the children's knowledge is gradually increased regarding the sunnah of Hajj and, insha'Allah, by the time they actually get to make Hajj they will be well prepared with all the dua' and procedures clear in their minds.

We parents had a great time doing all this as well, so it truly was fun for all the family. Insha'Allah, some of you will enjoy similar family fun. If you have some other ideas to share, please reap the rewards and let us know!