HAJJI (Arabic, "pilgrim"), one who makes the hajj or greater pilgrimage to Mecca, from the 8th to the loth of the twelfth month of the Muhammadan year. The lesser pilgrimage, called `umrah, 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 word hajj is sometimes loosely used of any Muhammadan pil grimage 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; ISLAM).