2006年VOA标准英语-Muslims Mark Hajj Season with Pilgrimage t

By Amin Fekrat
Washington
02 January 2006

The annual season of Hajj is now under way. Every Muslim who is financially able to do so is obliged under the Koran, the holy Muslim scripture¹, to make the pilgrimage to Mecca during Hajj at least once in his or her lifetime. The season culminates² on the "Id-Al Adha," the festival of sacrifice, which this year falls on Tuesday, January 11 and continues until January 14. The arduous³ annual Hajj pilgrimage takes place this year against the background of the continuing war in Iraq and the increasing militancy⁴ on the part of the Islamic extremist groups against broader interests of the West and of particularly, the United States.

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Call to Prayer: "God is most great, god is most great," the muezzin says in calling the faithful to prayer, "I bear witness to the oneness of god, I bear witness to the oneness of god."

At the muezzin's call, Muslims turn toward Mecca and prostrate⁵ themselves before God in humility⁶ to say their daily prayer.

It was in Mecca around the year 570 that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was born. When he was 40, he began to guide his people and teach them the oneness of God. By doing so, the Islamic faith teaches, Muhammad completed a tradition begun by Adam and followed by a succession of prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, in order that humanity may live in peace and in covenant⁷ with God.

Soon after Muhammad started his teachings, he asked his fellow clansmen from the elite⁸ tribe of Quraysh, to abandon their practices of worshiping idols⁹ and ponder the intricacies of creation that, he reasoned, could come from one God only. But faced with defiance¹⁰ and persecution¹¹, Muhammad fled Mecca, his birthplace, with a handful of his followers¹² and journeyed to Medina, then an oasis¹³ 320 kilometers north of Mecca. The flight, or Hegira¹⁴, of the prophet of Islam in the year 622 marks the beginning of Muslim calendar and an era profoundly transforming the course of human history.

Muhammad thrived in Medina. Eight years after he fled Mecca, he returned in triumph to witness the removal of the idols from Ka'ba, the House of God. Muslim tradition has it that Abraham, the Patriarch, built Ka'ba as the House of God. Located in one corner of Ka'ba is the "black stone," or Hajar-Al-Aswad, which Muslims believe was given by God to Abraham as a reward for his faithfulness. The stone represents the covenant between God and humans.

The Great Patriarch, in a test of his faith and rectitude, was ordered by God to sacrifice his son, Ismael. However, God, satisfied that Abraham had passed the test of faith, offered a ram¹⁵ to be sacrificed in place of his son at the last minute. The festival of sacrifice commemorates¹⁶ these events.

Abraham, writes Bruce Feiler, a New York Times best selling author, "remains¹⁷ a defining figure for half the world's believers. Muslims invoke¹⁸ him in their daily prayers, as do Jews. He appears repeatedly in the Christian¹⁹ liturgy²⁰. The most mesmerizing²¹ story of Abraham's life-his offering a son to God-plays a pivotal role in the holiest week of the Christian year, at Easter. The story is also recited at the start of the holiest fortnight in Judaism, on Rosh Hashanah."

For over 13 centuries Muslims the world over have looked forward to the day when they would be able to set foot in Mecca, a barren valley surrounded by harsh hills in today's Saudi Arabia.

Pilgrims to Mecca start their spiritual journey stripped of the trappings of class, power and status. Men wear the "Ihram," a two-piece seamless cloth cover. Women pilgrims wear a head to toe white garment that reveals only their faces and hands. The pilgrims then head toward Ka'ba chanting the "Talbiyah," a prayer to Allah.

The pilgrims chant, "here we come o Allah, no partner have you. Blessings²² are yours, the kingdom, too."

After reaching Ka'ba, the pilgrims begin their Tawaf, a ritual in which they walk seven times counterclockwise around Ka'ba, as the American writer Herman Melville put it, "to circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon."

Then they make the "Sa'ay," the trip between the hills of Safa and Marwa, seven times. A trip to Minah takes place on the eighth day of the Hajj. The following morning the pilgrims make a trip to the plain of Arafat. Here Muslims perform the "standing²³" rituals, praying from noon until sunset near the site of Muhammad's farewell address. At night, the pilgrims retreat to a place called "Muzdalifah." Then they return to Minah for three days, where they cast stones at the three pillars representing the Satan, signifying his rejection²⁴ and what he stands for.

1 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

2 culminates   

v.达到极点( culminate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Each civilization is born, it culminates, and it decay. 各种文明都要历经诞生，鼎盛和衰落。 来自《用法词典》
• The tower culminates in a 40-foot spire. 这塔的顶端是一个40英尺高的塔尖。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

4 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

5 prostrate   

v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的

参考例句：

• She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
• The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

8 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

9 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

10 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

11 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

12 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

13 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

14 hegira   

n.逃亡

参考例句：

• She made her plan for her annual summer hegira to the Miami Beach.她计划到迈阿密海滩去度过一年一度的暑假。
• Soapy had made his humble arrangements for his annual hegira to the Island.索丕为自己每年逃亡布莱克韦尔岛尽力做出安排。

15 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

16 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

19 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

20 liturgy   

n.礼拜仪式

参考例句：

• A clergyman read the liturgy from the prayer-book.一名牧师照着祈祷书念祷文。
• The mass is the church a kind of liturgy.弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。

21 mesmerizing   

adj.有吸引力的，有魅力的v.使入迷( mesmerize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I think you must be mesmerizing me, Charles. 查尔斯，我想你一定在对我施催眠术啦。 来自辞典例句
• The attendant one-dimensional wave equation has mesmerizing harmonic properties. 伴生的一元波平衡具有迷人的和谐特性。 来自电影对白

22 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

24 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。