The annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, required of able-bodied Muslims once in their life, brings the Islamic world together across its many languages, ethnicities and individual beliefs — something seen across the many faces of its female faithful. Associated Press photographer Nariman El-Mofty shows us this diversity and describes how these women have been affected by this journey.
Dalia, a 36 year old Lebanese woman, takes off her hijab to start performing Wudu, a ritual of washing before prayer, inside an only women's camp in Mina. Dalia, isn't convinced the hijab is a necessary demonstration of faith. The hajj experience has caused her to look inside herself and begin to pray for the first time in 25 years.
An Egyptian woman prays inside the women's camp in Arafat near the holy city of Mecca. Many women described finding peace and fulfillment by taking part in it.
An Iraqi woman uses her prayer beads to make tasbeeh, or meditation, inside the women's camp in Arafat. Although gender inequality exists in parts of the Muslim world, women were vital to the founding of Islam with the Prophet Muhammad's wife, Khadijah, becoming its first convert.
A Saudi woman teaches Islam to women in Al-Masjid an-Nabawi or Prophet Muhammad's Mosque, which situates Muhammad's tomb, in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Sarah , a 28-year old Moroccan, rests at a hotel in Mecca after finishing her pilgrimage. "It's been quite a shock for me to discover that Mecca has been transformed in a giant mall. But aside of that the most incredible part was seeing people literally from every single part of the world standing all together in formation making rakat, a prayer movement, all at once," she says.
Saudi women cast stones at a pillar symbolizing the stoning of Satan, in a ritual called "Jamarat," the last rite of the annual hajj.
Fatma, 25, from Ghana carries her son Hisou in Arafat. She walked from Medina to Mecca to Arafat and will complete her pilgrimage by not using any vehicles as a demonstration of piety.
Syrian women from Hama make their way down after prayer on a rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, near Mecca.