MINA, 10 February 2003 — Haj is not all religious rituals. It is big business as well. There are all kinds of shops trying to make a fast buck. Al Baik, Tazaj and dozens of bakeries are all here to cater to over two million pilgrims who have gathered here on the first day of Haj. And all of them are doing a roaring business.
Commercialism is a big reality, even in Haj. So much so that one would think that if Al Baik or Tazaj were not here, half the pilgrims would go hungry. “The best thing about these franchises is their location,” a Haj Ministry official said.
“They are ideally located. Al Baik and Tazaj are right in the middle of Mina. As you enter Mina from Jamarat you see the familiar Al Baik and Tazaj signboards. The pilgrims take a break at Al Baik, have their meal and then proceed to their tented camps,” he pointed out. Interestingly, Al Baik has also become a meeting point for pilgrims. With no landmarks for guidance, Al Baik stands out in an all-white landscape.
While fast food franchises make big money, there are individual pilgrims selling various wares in their bid to earn a little so they can cover the cost of their spiritual journey. A majority of these traders are from Russia. The most popular item on sale in their makeshift shops are Russian binoculars. “People visit us out of curiosity and check on the binoculars for themselves and some pilgrims buy them, too,” said one Russian pilgrim who is also a part-time trader. A Pakistani woman selling colorful scarfs, each at SR10, is attracting many buyers. Most of her customers are Pakistanis or Indians. “I am buying these scarfs for my three daughters in Rajasthan,” said an elderly woman from India.
What pilgrims like the most about buying from these traders is that the prices are negotiable. “We feel happy when we bargain and bring the prices down to a bare minimum,” said one Pakistani woman who bought a dozen scarves inmany different colors.
There is another reason for buying things in Mina. “We want to buy items from here as souvenirs to remind us of the time we spent here,” said Halidu Mohammed from Lagos, Nigeria.
“We want our relatives to cherish these small gifts from Mina. Everything that is available here is also available in our country. It is the occasion, the place and the circumstances in which these things were bought that give the items value and make them important.
African women sell plastic mats for pilgrims with no valid Haj permits. “Since we don’t have tents it is easy for us to buy SR5 mats, unroll them anywhere and relax,” said one Egyptian pilgrim who works in Jeddah and somehow made it to Mina with five others also from Egypt.
