MAKKAH, 5 February 2003 — Nearly half of the Muslim pilgrims do not speak Arabic.
How do pilgrims from Asia, Africa and Europe cope with the huge language and cultural barriers?
Dr. Abu Bakr Ba-Qader, consultant for cultural affairs at the Ministry of Haj, spoke to Arab News about assistance to non-Arabic speakers during Haj.
“First of all, the people in Makkah who are serving the pilgrims are mostly bilingual. Each mutawaf speaks a foreign language and knows a lot about their cultural and social needs,” he said.
“At the ministry we have trained the staff at the tawafa institutions about the cultural and linguistic needs of all pilgrims.”
“They are also obliged to provide translators for each group,” he added.
“We publish the Haj magazine in English, and there are leaflets and pamphlets available like Nashrat Al Haj in most of the Muslim world’s languages.”
Ba-Qader added that the Saudi media is broadcasting radio programs in 10 languages to educate and guide non-Arabic speaking pilgrims during their stay.
“Most of the pilgrims learn about the holy sites before their arrival, and all Muslims naturally know quite a lot about Makkah and the other holy sites,” Ba-Ghader said.
“In addition, each Haj delegation plays a major role in helping us reduce the language barrier as much as possible.”
Ali Akbar, an official at the Uzbekistan Haj delegation, said Uzbek pilgrims had never felt the language was causing any difficulty.
“One in five Uzbeks do speak Arabic, and I believe that each Muslim must know some Arabic because we all read the Qur’an,” he added.
“But we always make sure that our pilgrims learn about the holy sites and how to perform Haj in our own language.”
“I believe if each delegation takes good care of organizing and educating its pilgrims, the language barrier will disappear.”
