HAJJ  or HADJ, the Arabic word, meaning literally a " setting out," for the greater

pilgrimage of Mahommedans to Mecca, which takes place from the 8th to the loth of the twelfth month of the Mahommedan year; the lesser pilgrimage, called umrah or omra, may be made' to the mosque at Mecca at any time other than that of the hajj proper, and is also a meritorious act . The term hajji or hadji is given to those who have performed the greater pilgrimage . The word hajj is sometimes loosely used of any Mahommedan pilgrimage to a sacred place or shrine, and is also applied to the.pilgrimages of Christians of the East to the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem (see MECCA; MAIIOMMEDAN RELIGION) .