Riz Khan, a former senior anchor at CNN International who is now on the board of directors of Image World Media Inc., has delivered award-winning coverage from the Hajj and Mecca since 1998. These reflections on his experience as a journalist and a pilgrim were written during the 2001 Hajj.

For pilgrims, destination is more spiritual than geographical

The Great Mosque in Mecca surrounds the best known structure symbolizing Islam -- the Kaaba.

The Hajj is misunderstood.

Not only by non-Muslims, but also by many of those who practice the faith. To some degree, the misunderstanding comes from the fact that it's not until a Muslim actually goes on this pilgrimage that he or she starts to get some idea of what it's all about and what it really involves spiritually.

Usually, any religious obligation or duty seems to gain an air of sombre importance. Well, for a Muslim, it is an important event -- but not necessarily quite so sombre. The Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam: At least once in a lifetime, any Muslim who is able, financially and physically, to complete this journey must do so. (More on Islam's Five Pillars of Faith.)

Most people might imagine the Hajj to be a complicated and perhaps demanding version of a Catholic confession -- a visit to God's holiest site for Muslims to plead forgiveness for sins. (Perhaps with a fear that one's sins might be so bad that they can't be overlooked.) In fact, the Hajj is a very happy affair. Essentially, it's a gathering of more than 2 million people who have achieved a "mission of a lifetime." They've arrived at the geographical and physical heart of their religion, so pilgrims are usually elated to have made it to Mecca -- or Makkah, to use the old name that has been reinstated. Mecca marks the spot where, according to tradition, the prophet Abraham first built a shrine to worship God. It was a caravan crossroads through rocky outcroppings in the desert, which grew into a modern, noisy, bustling center.

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During the Hajj, the atmosphere is more one of celebration in and around the city, which is open only to Muslims. In a way, that exclusion of non-Muslims is a pity. It prevents much of the world from seeing what a mixed community Islam embraces. There are the colorfully dressed, and often loud and cheerful, Africans -- many from Nigeria. Small, closely huddled groups of women from Indonesia and the Philippines often wind their way through the huge crowds that take over Mecca. A chorus of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Bosnians, Arabs ... it's truly a melting pot. Men, women and children are all equally in awe of this place they've known only through pictures, and perhaps television. (More on women at the Hajj.)

Pilgrims come from around the world to attend the Hajj.

Add to that jam-packed streets and a mix of languages, and it's amazing that hardly a voice is raised in anger, or confrontation witnessed. Everyone really tries to help each other through this annual miracle of logistics and mass movement of people. And that's what the Hajj mostly is -- a movement through the desert. The pilgrims flood into Mecca by air, sea, motor vehicles and sometimes still the odd camel caravan, which is how it was done in the "old" days. (More on the planning and logistics of the Hajj.)

Many pilgrims arrive having made a trip to the huge Prophet's Mosque in Medina -- a city that first became home to Mohammed, when he and his early followers were driven out of Mecca. It's considered a great blessing to pray at this remarkable mosque.

Once in Mecca, the first goal of the pilgrims is to get over to the Great Mosque that surrounds the best known structure symbolizing Islam -- the Kaaba. The Kaaba is a cubic stone structure the size of a modest house, but it's clad in a black silk cloth, with Arabic embroidered onto it in gold. Pilgrims rush to see this sight to remind themselves that they've actually arrived at the heart of Islam -- the center of their religion. The Kaaba is the location that Muslims turn to pray toward daily. Blessings for prayers in the holy Great Mosque are considered to be multiplied thousands of times.

The Kaaba is the shrine that Muslims turn to five times each day when praying. During the Hajj, pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times.

But it comes as a surprise to most that the core purpose of the Hajj is not to look out on the wonders of the Kaaba and the beautiful mosque, but to look within -- to discover oneself. The pilgrimage involves a trek through the desert to the tent city at Mina, and from there, on to the plain of Arafat. It was here on a small hill that Mohammed preached his last sermon, declaring that Muslims must conduct the pilgrimage in this particular manner. It was a ritual dating back to the time of Abraham and follows mostly the events he experienced in affirming his faith to God. That final sermon by Mohammed set in stone the pilgrimage duty for those who were to follow Islam for centuries on.

The Hajj pilgrims stay in Arafat until sunset before weaving their way back to Mecca, again, via Mina. But it's those crucial hours in the desert where Muslims are supposed to discover what the Hajj is all about. That time is meant to be the most honest in a person's life -- an honest reflection on all that a person has done right and wrong. Then comes the request to God for forgiveness, and the chance to make a fresh start.

In a way, it's not what you do during the Hajj that matters.

It's what you do after, and perhaps there comes the understanding.