Haj may be once in a lifetime journey for the faithful but for countless young and hardworking Saudis it is an opportunity to earn a few extra bucks and learn a few extra words from other languages.
They make the most of the pilgrimage season and try to acquaint themselves with the culture and tradition from where the pilgrims come from. They work for various pilgrim establishments, the Haj Metro, and as security guards at the hundreds of tents housing millions of pilgrims. Talking to them here in Mina was full of pleasant surprises.
Khaled Abdullah is just 15. He is working at one of the tents as an attendant. “This job will fetch me SR 1,500 for five days. This will help my father in repaying part of our house rent. I wanted to help him in any which way I can and this is one small step in lessening his burden,” he told this diarist.
Tayseer Abdul Majed is working as an assistant to one of the managers at a tawafa organization. “Money is not important to me, experience is. Working during Haj offers its own set of problems. I have to take care of myself. This job has taught me how to organize myself,” said this 17-year-old Saudi. “When I go from here in the next three days I will be much experienced and much wiser,” he said.
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The Jamarat complex is a huge structure built in solid concrete. It has eased stoning and movement of the pilgrims. There are no more stampedes. On Friday, everything was pretty well organized. Right now, the Jamarat complex has five levels. Another four are to be added in the years to come. The first expansion of Jamarat was in 1975 when an ordinary bridge-like ramp was constructed. It accommodated about 80,000 pilgrims per hour.
In the very crowded situation, it accommodated about 100,000 per hour per floor. It had two floors. It led to frequent stampedes. The Jamarat area can now handle about 10 times that number. Also, the shape of the Jamarat used to be like circular pole in the past. After careful studies and simulations, it was revealed that the most suitable shape for the smoothest flow was one that was elliptical. And so we now have an elliptical Jamarat with a long wall. Pilgrims can cast the stone from any angle and still hit the wall.
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From the pictures appearing in this and other newspapers and on television you get the impression that the Haj is a sea of white, but being on the ground with the pilgrims you will be amazed at how colorful it is. Each national group is carrying a flag. Many of the pilgrims have signs or some sort of design pinned to their clothing to help them identify each other. They have prayer rugs over their arms and bags clutched in their hands. Even the pilgrims’ faces are colorful. Every shade of human skin is represented. Among the three million pilgrims nobody can miss the tall and majestic Afghans with flowing beards, bushy eyebrows and aquiline noses; the lanky Somalis with a graceful gait; the helpful Sudanese, with a smile playing on their faces at all times; the loquacious Egyptians with neat goatees and the young Pakistanis with their trademark moustaches.
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There are some pilgrims who continue to insist on personally slaughtering sacrificial animals. Of course the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has installed state-of-the-art slaughterhouses where millions of animals are mercifully killed. Unfortunately, some pilgrims still persist in the belief that they will receive greater blessing if they sacrifice the animal themselves. Thousands buy sheep at the market on the outskirts of Mina. Then they take the animals into the open areas and sacrifice them. Men are waiting nearby with pickup trucks and they take the slaughtered animals away.
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Covering the Haj is a great opportunity to help change the images of Muslims that have been planted in Western minds. Islam is not about violence. The message of true Islam is peace. On the plains of Arafat we watched millions of Muslims praying for peace. Not just for Muslims but for the entire humanity. Though the pilgrims are fully alive to the mudslinging campaign unleashed against their Prophet (peace be upon him), still they preach patience. There is no rancor in their voice. No vendetta. They seem secure in the belief that sooner rather than later their antagonists would realize the beauty of Islam.
