We understand the word "Hajj" to mean debate.
The verb form of the word is "Yahujju or hajja" , which means to debate or discuss.
Read the following
Say "Do you debate with us regarding God? He is our Lord and your Lord, and we have our work and you have your work, and to Him we are believers."
If they debate with you, then say "I have submitted myself to God, as well as those who follow me." And say to those who have received the Scripture and the Gentiles "Have you submitted?" If they have submitted then they are guided, and if they turn away, then you are only to deliver, and God is watcher over the servants.
I personally do beleive in a physical journey, ( are you happy now? ) where people gather in a large congregation, once a year ,during a three-month season ( the Quran states as clearly as the sun that it is done throughout a period of MONTHS - see - and never says that a million people have to be in one spot at the same time. (evidence in the Quran seems to indicate that it was done in successive groups. First group comes, conducts their business, and leaves, making room for the next...and so on and so forth, for the whole season. I will post the verses later if they are needed).
As for the purpose of this congregation, God says, as clearly as the sun, that it is to benefit people. Mindless rituals, such as spining around a cloth-covered cubical structure, or jogging back and forth between two hills, or throwing pebbles at a stone pillar representing Satan (and splitting other people's skulls in the process) or kissing a black stone (and trampling others to reach it) are of zero benefit to mankind. And even if you debate with me from now until the end of time and try to convince me otherwise, I will not accept it.
So, what is of benefit to the people?
If we remember that the Patriarch Abraham was also a leader of men ,politically as well as in religious guidance, ( God says in the Quran that Abraham was made a leader and a guide to mankind), and set up the first house, in Bakka (which is NOT Mecca, with all due respect to your beliefs), where people could come to him from all the corners of the land, we can conclude the following
1- Discuss important political issues that are of benefit to the society (discuss them where the leader is present).
2- Feed the poor.
3- Trade
4- Pay taxes to the State.
5- Frequently remember God ALONE, without partners, for the fortunes that He has granted them.
As for the word "Tawwaf" it does NOT mean to circumbulate, with all due respect to your beliefs. It means to visit / frequent a place / stay in one place for a certain period of time.
As in
They will be visited/frequented with (servants bearing) cups of pure drinks.
I din't think it means they will be circumbulated by the cups.
Therefore, the people can make this journey, and visit the place, and do all of the above.
But today, the single "Islamic" (though I hate using that word in Arabic, it will have to do for now) State no longer exists. Therefore, the First Bayt (in the physical sense) that was established by Abraham has nothing but a historic value.
There is no reason why we can't have another agreed upon place, (or even many such places), for the same purpose.
Think of it as the center of a modern and model state, that lives by the system of God; a kind of House where all people can gather.
This is my own personal view, and it know it doesn't represent what other members think. There are many on this site who would say the the "Bayt" has only a figuritive meaning, and not a physical one. I believe it has BOTH.
But that does not mean that we go about "Holyfying" buildings and black stones. Nothing , no one other than God desrevs the title of "Holy".
Peace.
