As my husband and I have been watching this years pilgrims perform Hajj, my husband shared with me his memories of Hajj when he was just a young boy growing up in Makkah. During those times (and we’ll be kind and not mention years) it was traditional for Makkah residents that the man of the house would perform Hajj each year. While he was perfoming Hajj and was with other pilgrims at Arafat or Minnah, the wife and children would dress in their best clothes and go to the Haram (Grand Mosque). They would spend hours at the Haram and come home very hungry. And of course their female friends and their children would also be at the Haram all day too. It was a tradition that after arriving home, they would join the other ladies in the neighborhood in what would today be referred to as a block party. Tables and chairs would be set up in the streets and everyone would contribute their best dishes. There would also be dancing and song and an overall sense of celebration. And if one happened to see a man approaching, the women would gather stones to throw at the man while shouting at him “why was he not at Hajj with the other men?”
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