What is the significance of the pilgrimage for Islam?
What will be an ideal response?
The pilgrimage or hajj refers back to the flight of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to al-Medina in the north. He later returned with an army and defeated the polytheists of Mecca. Mecca is the holiest city in Islam as it houses the Kaaba, the site of a volcanic rock thought to mark the site of the first "house of God," built at God's command by the biblical Abraham and his son Ismael. Muhammad's intervention in the rebuilding of the Kaaba establishes him as a political as well as spiritual leader. Today, practitioners of the Muslim faith from all over the world face toward the Kaaba when they pray. One of the five pillars of Islam requires the undertaking of a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in every Muslim's life. Walking around the Kaaba is a key ritual in the pilgrimage, for the cube represents the physical center of the planet and the universe. It is the physical center of Muslim life.
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Which of the following best defines the term "picaresque"?
A. a Spanish dish that is both pungent and spicy B. a derogatory term that is demeaning to ordinary working people C. a genre of prose that celebrates a roguish hero in a corrupt society D. a genre of prose which employs magical realism