JEDDAH: Families and individuals from Jeddah who had made their own arrangements to perform Haj started returning last evening. Streams of vehicles laden with luggage were seen entering the city’s various entry points, especially along the Makkah-Jeddah Expressway.
“We all had a successful Haj,” said Ahmed Al-Saeed who had gone to Makkah with his eight-member family. “This was my fourth Haj and my family’s second,” said the 40-year-old businessman. “You have to see to believe how smoothly the entire pilgrimage was organized,” he added.
Abdul Rahman Darwish, an Egyptian office manager, who had gone with his wife said: “It was an indescribable experience. Believe me, we were at Islam’s holiest site and that makes my wife and me immensely happy. “We feel our life’s purpose is fulfilled,” he said. “It’s a place where you see Muslims from all over the world, so it shows the unity of mankind. The holy sites were filled with prayer,” he added.
“An aspect of Haj that you cannot miss is equality and justice among all types of people, transcending racial, economic and social lines,” said Azhar Raza Maqsood, a 30-year-old Pakistani computer technician in ihram. “This was my first Haj. I was among the last to go and among the first to return,” said Maqsood who undertook the pilgrimage on his own.
An Indian returning pilgrim was more forthright in telling the purpose for which he performed Haj for the eighth time.
“I was initially not inclined to undertake the pilgrimage. But some recent events made me determined to go for Haj. I prayed for the nearly 200 persons who lost their lives in the recent Mumbai terrorist attacks,” said Ibrahim Kutty who hails from the southern Indian state of Kerala. “I have lived in Mumbai for a few years before coming here 26 years ago and was saddened to see what the terrorists did to the Taj Mahal Hotel,” he said. He also prayed for the more than 50 persons who fell victim to the terrorist attacks at Mumbai’s main railway terminus.
Ibrahim Himada, a young Palestinian executive working in an advertising firm, said he and his family performed Haj this time specifically to pray for a peaceful end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We are sure our prayers will be answered,” he said. “Haj symbolizes the unity of Ummah and we are hopeful that a solution will come sooner than expected.”
Muhammad Bashir, a Sudanese translator, who returned with his family from Haj, had a word of praise for the excellent health facilities provided at various sites.
“My child developed stomach problem and I was worried. However, doctors at the Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah treated him and we could complete the pilgrimage without hassles,” he said.
Most of the returning pilgrims said they had least difficulty in negotiating their way to various sites and returning to their camps. The facilities provided by the Kingdom with the help of Civil Defense and Scout Guides were excellent, one of them said. “Even wheelchair-bound pilgrims had a smooth movement throughout the pilgrimage,” said Ismail Muhammad, a Filipino. According to him, there were fewer illegal pilgrims this time due to the strict checking all over.
It wasn’t just local pilgrims who were leaving the holy city yesterday. There was also an exodus from Mina of pilgrims who had performed their Haj without permits or as part of local Haj tour groups.
Muhammad Jadu, Sudanese pilgrim who lives in Taif, admitted that he had no Haj permit, was not traveling with a local Haj tour group and didn’t rent a place to stay. He said he had spent the previous two nights scrambling for places to sleep away from the sight of local authorities. Now that his Haj is complete, he added, all he wanted to do was get back to Taif, about 70 km east and south of Makkah.
Assad Deyauldeen, Palestinian pilgrim who has been living in the Kingdom for years, came on Arafat Day with his friends from Madinah. He said that he didn’t have the roughly SR2,500 that it costs to perform the Haj legally (with a permit and through a local Haj tour operator). Without being a member of a tour group, it is very difficult to find room and board.
“It’s been hard the past two days to find a nice place to stay because everywhere there was police presence and they were preventing us from sleeping on major roads. We were changing places every now and then to escape the authorities. We wanted to stay one more day, but we decided to leave early.”
Abdul Samad Balul, Egyptian pilgrim who came for Haj with his wife and two kids too arrived without a permit. He said that the government should find a solution for people who cannot afford the cost of performing Haj legally.
