MAKKAH: The expansion of the Masaa (the area for ritual walking and running between the mountains of Safa and Marwah) facilitated the performance of saie ritual and helped in crowd management, particularly during this Haj.

However, it did not go well with some professional wheelchair pushers who said the new facility had affected their earnings.

A large number of able-bodied Saudi men take up the tough job of pushing pilgrims in wheelchairs during Haj seasons because the income is attractive.

Some of them used to earn an average of SR25,000 during a Haj season. There are also several volunteers who do it for free.

“Old and weak people used to seek our help in the past because they couldn’t walk in the crowd at Masaa,” Muataz Al-Rouqi, a Saudi youth, told Arab News yesterday. “But now since the crowds are moderate, they can walk and we lose business. While crowds swarmed the ground floor of the Masaa this year, the three upper levels were less crowded and so convenient for the elderly and sick people to walk,” Al-Rouqi said.

Generally, pilgrims believe that one should walk during the saie if his or her health allows it because it earns more reward.

Al-Rouqi said his income this year was reduced to half compared to last year.

But Shaddad Al-Bugami, another wheelchair pusher from Taif, said he did not experience any difficulty in finding clients. He said he preferred to work on the upper levels because the ground floor was too crowded.

“Now I can save one-third of the time to complete one round at the top floor," he said.

He said he had already earned SR20,000 this season. “The highest amount he earned by serving a single pilgrim was SR1,500. It was an elderly woman from Qatar,” he said. The lowest he got this season was SR50 from a poor Indian pilgrim.

“The Indian was old and sick,” he said. “In fact I wanted to serve him without any charge. But he insisted on paying and so I accepted the money he offered.”

He said he has worked for about two weeks in Makkah and soon plans to return to Taif.

Several of the wheelchair pushers are schoolboys between 12 and 16 earning money during their school break.

Ahmad Al-Tijani, 14, said, he and several other boys from his district worked at the Haram during the Haj.

Al-Tijani says he mostly avoids fat people and if they insist, he charges a premium for their girth and weight. He says he will buy a motorbike with his cash.

Muhyuddin Khoja, a university student, said he worked at the Masaa because he needed money for his studies and to support his large family.

“The best time to work was between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. when weak pilgrims usually come to do their rituals at the Grand Mosque,” Khoja said.

He said he would spend the money very carefully and thus strive to manage until the next Haj season.