The Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime-pilgrimage to Mecca, the place in Saudi Arabia where Muhammad declared Islam and the site of the Kaaba, the most sacred site of Islam. (It is toward the Kaaba that Muslims face during prayer.) The Hajj (pilgrimage) is required of all Muslims who are physically and financially able at least once in their lifetimes.

Ramadan, the holy month in the Muslim calendar, began this week. This holy time recalls the transmission of the Qur’an, the Muslim scriptures. Ramadan is marked by prayer and daily fasting (called sawm ). Every day during the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world get up before dawn to eat and pray. Between sunup and sundown they do not smoke, drink any liquid or eat any food. They break their fast at the fourth prayer of the day (which is said at sunset).

On August 2, Chauncey Bailey, a journalist known for his outspoken views and hard-hitting reporting on urban issues was gunned down in broad daylight on a street in Oakland, California.