Mecca and the Hajj become an impetus for civilizational progress in the world of Islam. What applies to the center of pilgrimage is also true for the pilgrim roads. The so-called ‘Arab route’ to Mecca begins in Kufa in what is now Iraq. With a length of 1,400 kilometers, it leads through wastelands and deserts. For many pilgrims, the perilous route becomes a path of no return. It is no coincidence that every pilgrim is required to settle his inheritance before setting out. Zubayda bint Jafar (died 10 July 831 CE / AH 21 Jumādā I 216), the cousin and later wife of the famous Abbasid caliph Hārūn ar-Rashīd, almost died too of thirst during her first Hajj.