The History of Hac: From Prophet Ibrahim to the Modern Era

The history of Hac begins with Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), sallallahu aleyhi ve sellem, who is regarded as the father of monotheism in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. According to Islamic tradition, Allah commanded Ibrahim to leave his wife Hajar (Hagar) and infant son Ismail (Ishmael) in the barren valley of Mekke. It was here that the miraculous spring of Zamzam burst forth to save them from thirst. Years later, Allah instructed Ibrahim and Ismail to build the Kabe as the first house of worship dedicated solely to the One God. The Kur'an records this in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:127): 'And when Ibrahim and Ismail were raising the foundations of the House, [saying], Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.' After completing the construction, Allah commanded Ibrahim to proclaim the Hac to all of humanity: 'And proclaim to the people the Hac; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass' (Kur'an 22:27). This divine proclamation established Hac as a universal act of worship that has continued for thousands of years.

In the centuries following Ibrahim's era, the pure monotheistic practices of Hac became corrupted as the people of the Arabian Peninsula gradually fell into idolatry. By the time of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu aleyhi ve sellem), the Kabe housed 360 idols, and the rituals of Hac had been mixed with pagan customs, including naked circumambulation and the clapping of hands instead of namaz. The Quraysh tribe, as custodians of the Kabe, controlled the hac ibadeti and profited enormously from the annual influx of hacilar from across Arabia. When Prophet Muhammad conquered Mekke in 630 CE (8 AH), he cleansed the Kabe of all idols and restored the monotheistic worship of Allah. The following year, he sent Abu Bakr to lead the Hac and announced that no polytheist would be allowed to perform Hac thereafter. In 632 CE (10 AH), Prophet Muhammad performed his only Hac, known as Hajjat al-Wada (the Farewell Pilgrimage), which established the definitive rituals that Muslims follow to this day. During this hac ibadeti, he delivered his famous Farewell Sermon at Arafat, addressing over 100,000 companions on matters of equality, justice, and the completion of the religion of Islam.

After Hz. Peygamber's passing, the Rightly Guided Caliphs maintained the Hac and ensured safe passage for hacilar. Under Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Mataf (circumambulation area) around the Kabe was expanded for the first time by purchasing and demolishing surrounding houses. The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates further developed the infrastructure of Mekke and Medine, building roads, wells, and rest stations along major hac ibadeti routes from Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Yemen. The Ottoman Empire, which controlled the Hijaz from 1517 to 1916, invested heavily in the Hac infrastructure. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the Kabe's walls and renovated the Mescid-i Haram. The Ottomans established the famous Surre Alayi, an elaborate annual caravan from Istanbul carrying gifts, provisions, and the Kiswa (the cloth covering of the Kabe) to Mekke. They also built the Hejaz Railway in 1908, connecting Damascus to Medine, which dramatically reduced the journey time for hacilar from the Levant and Turkey. Throughout these centuries, Hac remained a perilous journey; many hacilar died from disease, bandits, extreme heat, and dehydration along the way. The hac ibadeti could take months or even years of travel.

The modern transformation of Hac began when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932. King Abdulaziz ibn Saud initiated the first major expansion of the Mescid-i Haram in 1955, increasing its capacity from 50,000 to 400,000 worshippers. King Fahd's expansion in the 1980s and 1990s added air-conditioned namaz halls, escalators, and the now-iconic minarets, bringing capacity to over 800,000. The most ambitious project began under King Abdullah in 2011 and continues today: the Third Saudi Expansion aims to accommodate over 2.2 million worshippers simultaneously in the Mescid-i Haram. This includes the massive Mataf expansion, new multi-story structures, advanced crowd-management systems, and the Cemerat Bridge complex in Mina, which replaced the old ground-level stoning area and dramatically reduced the deadly stampedes that had plagued earlier years. The Haramain High-Speed Railway, opened in 2018, now connects Mekke, Medine, and Jeddah, allowing hacilar to travel between the holy cities in approximately two hours. Modern Hac management also involves sophisticated logistics: tent cities in Mina with fire-resistant structures, mist-cooling systems throughout the holy sites, thousands of medical stations, and an extensive security apparatus. The annual haci count has grown from around 50,000 in the 1930s to over 2.5 million in recent years.

The 21st century has brought both unprecedented challenges and innovations to the Hac. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to the most restricted Hac in modern history, with only 1,000 hacilar permitted — a stark contrast to the 2.5 million who attended the previous year. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies: electronic permits, health screening apps, crowd-monitoring AI, and robotic sanitation systems became standard features of Hac management. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan includes ambitious goals for the hac ibadeti: increasing annual Umre visitors to 30 million, developing the Medine Knowledge Economic City, and enhancing haci experiences through smart city technologies. The Neom and Red Sea development projects also aim to create new tourism corridors that could benefit hacilar. Climate change poses a growing concern, as rising temperatures in the Arabian Peninsula threaten haci safety during the summer months when Hac falls on those years. Saudi authorities have responded with expanded cooling infrastructure, mandatory heat advisories, and research into climate-resilient hac ibadeti management. The spiritual essence of Hac, however, remains unchanged from Ibrahim's time: millions of Muslims from every corner of the world, regardless of race, wealth, or status, gather in simple white garments to answer the eternal call of 'Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk' — Here I am, O Allah, here I am.