With a little less than 24 hours to go before Haj 2012 winds down, here in Mina there is frenzied commercial activity. High quality digital adhan clocks are popular items. These clocks feature the accurate prayer time in any city worldwide. Pilgrims from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent say they like the clock because it enables them to hear the adhan of the Holy Haram after leaving Makkah. At the other end, African women are selling costume jewelry popular with all women. These beaded creations are beautiful works of art and cost very little. One of the most amusing things was to see Pakistani women buying scarves very similar to ones available back home. Asked about their purchases the women explained that what was bought was not important, but buying it in Mina was very important.
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Everywhere you go you see pilgrims hugging each other, smiling and scratching their bald pates and rolling their palms across their heads. They socialize and meet fellow Hajis from around the world. Then they call back home to announce their success. “Mabrook” is an often-heard word at this time.
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One major improvement this year is that the awareness campaigns launched by individual nations appear to be paying off. There is more of an understanding that Haj is a duty that should be completed as early in life as possible. In the past, most of the younger pilgrims were from Malaysia and Indonesia. This year many young pilgrims can be seen from Arab nations and especially India and Turkey. Improved economies in those nations have allowed more people the opportunity to perform Haj and it is good to see younger Muslims making the effort to put their improved finances to good use.
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During a casual conversation on the way back from Jamarat, one European pilgrim said, “Haj is no place for politics. We should be looking within, not without. But we are affected by what is happening all around us. The killing of Syrians, the turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the sectarian war in Iraq. This is crushing the psyche of the people all around. Here at Haj I have cried and cried and been bereft. I don’t know what to do to stop this misery.” Another pilgrim shared the sentiment. “If we can come here forgetting our differences, what really stops us from coming together on the issues that concern us outside of this place?” he asked and pointed out the words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioning that the entire Muslim Ummah is like one body. If one part of that body is hurt, the whole body feels the pain of it. “So why,” the pilgrim asked, “is it that when Syria is burning and there is pain in other Muslim countries there is no combined effort on the part of the Muslim world to come to the rescue of those people?”
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While the pilgrims are at Mina for prayer and reflection, opportunities for commercial activity abound. Yemeni Esa Mohammad Said was selling emergency mobile chargers for SR10. He definitely had the right product for his target market because his wares were selling like hotcakes. Almost everyone at the pilgrimage has a mobile phone. And when he said he made SR 12,000 yesterday, it did seem unbelievable.
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In the afternoon, the sun was blinding, the heat intense and the faithful, especially the elderly, had to struggle to accomplish their acts of worship. Many pilgrims could be seen clustered around water misters, taking what relief they could from the high temperatures. Due to the huge crowds in a limited space, coping with the heat is always a challenge even in the best of weather. Dramatic improvements have been made at the Jamarat since the pilgrimages of the late 1990s. During those years pilgrims could be seen collapsing throughout the day, overcome by heat stroke. All that has changed now. The water misters at the Jamarat Complex are very cool and immediately lift the spirits of tired pilgrims.
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The wonderful Saudi boy scouts are known to keep difficult situations under control. During Haj 2012, they were available from dawn until midnight. They were directing traffic, distributing food and working to help the lost. Pilgrims quickly learned how helpful the scouts could be. This diarist saw many lost and confused pilgrims speaking to the scouts. If the pilgrims could not speak Arabic, the scouts would take them to a group that did speak their language and could translate. They would ascertain the problem and then assist. The young men were truly impressive. God bless them.
Haj Diary — Mina, Oct. 27
