My Hajj

Of necessity, one has to depend on a tour organiser. And the organiser takes advantage. I had to pay exorbitantly for my Hajj, by my standard.

Because of heavy rush or otherwise, flight schedules were dislocated. My flight, originally scheduled for 15th January, got postponed to 16th.

There was an inordinate delay at Jeddah airport. We'd reached the airport at about sunset, but could move out for Mecca only by about 2 am in the night. The delay was perhaps necessary as the Hajj is the greatest gathering of human beings on earth. For reasons of security and management of the gigantic movement of people, the authorities here may need the time. The prospective Hajis, willy nilly, have to bear with a harrowing time of prolonged waiting. They get the first taste of the trials & tribulations a Haji has to go through.

Had it not been for the fact that Almighty Allah has given the local government sufficient means, it would be impossible for most to bear the heavy expenses that would otherwise be incurred. This fact provides a proof that it is Allah Who manages all affairs, behind the scenes.

We had donned the Ihram at the start of our journey with the intention of performing Umrah before Hajj. The simple uniform of Ihram is the symbol of universal brotherhood that Islam inculcates. Rich or poor, black or white, all are one before the Lord.

We came out of Ihram after completing the Umrah. But the same night we had to don it again for the Hajj & proceed to Mina.

At Mina, while still in Ihram, one of the Hajis caught me 'red-handed' wiping my wet face & beard dry, after a wash. He informed me that was not done; the face ought to be allowed to dry by itself. Earlier at Jeddah airport, I was roughly told by another Haji that my shoes which partially covered my toes were inappropriate and that I shall have to pay a penalty (dam). And then there was another person who told me that I couldn't take homoeopathic medicines since those smelled!

By such man-imposed restrictions, which have no divine sanction, Muslims are making their simple religion seem difficult.  What is required is that we should avoid ostentations. There was nothing ostentatious about doing simple necessary things like taking medicines or wiping one's wet face dry.

The rite of stoning the satans has been presenting a perennial problem. The local authorities have been doing all they could, but the problem persists. There have been certain traditional restrictions placed on the rite. On the 2nd & 3rd days of the 3-day rite, it is to be done only in the afternoons & at nights. And on the 3rd day, if one does not leave Mina before sunset after performing the rite, one has to remain in Mina and perform the rite on the 4th day as well. These restrictions are not mentioned in the Qur'aan & therefore not sacrosanct. Removal of these restrictions will help a lot in solving the problem. We'd had lots of anxious moments while performing the rite, this year too.

There was a heavy downpour of rains on the 5th day of our stay at Mina. The organiser of our tour informed me that he had not experienced such heavy rains anytime in his lifetime, at Mecca. The rains were preceded by a sandstorm that almost blew off our tent. And the torrential rains, that followed, seeped into the tents and made the mattresses float. There was thus no question of passing another night at Mina. We then decided to vacate Mina and proceed to Mecca on foot, with our luggage. Seeking a motorised vehicle was impossile; the roads were all blocked. Before proceeding we completed the stoning rite. And by the time we actually left Mina, it was well past sunset!

The rules were thus obviously broken, but not before a fatwa was conveniently discovered to give it a legal covering. I couldn't understand the intricasies of the fatwa, nor did I seriously try to. To me, it was obvious that a rule that was compelled by circumstances to be broken couldn't have been divinely made.

Mention has to be made here about the obligatory night stay at Muzdalifa, under the open sky. Rich and poor, black amd white, all are reduced to the same level, before Allah Almighty. Another gigantic demonstration of universal brotherhood! The richest of the rich, normally enjoying the most comfortable bedroom at home, gets a taste of how a pauper spends his night.

Mention has also to be made of the miraculous Zamzam water. In this arid land of scanty rainfall Allah creates a spring of potable water that has been carried to every nook and corner of the world for thousands of years now. And yet, apparently, the source of this spring remains inexhaustible! Truly it's a Sign of the inexhaustible resources of the Almighty Creator of all things.

Something needs to be done at the local level here against the spread of viral diseases. In this multitudinous gathering, viruses carried by any group of people from any part of the world spread like wild fire. I've been a victim, like almost everyone else, of the epidemic spread of cold & cough this year. Apparently, Allah expects mankind to find a remedy for this situation. With the technical advances now available, in medical as well as in other fields, it's not an impossible task.


Mohammad Shafi
1/02/05
Mecca