It was great to be back in Makkah again. After being away for over a year, I was finally experiencing the joy of walking in the narrow roads of the holy city in preparation for serving pilgrims.
Many people in Riyadh who had learned that I was a mutawif (pilgrim guide) thought I did it for the money. But I could never work in Haj just to fill my pockets. There is no greater pride and honor than serving the guests of God. My job as a mutawif means that under the supervision of the Ministry of Haj, I can provide the necessary services of transportation, housing and food for pilgrims during their stay in the holy sites.
It is an honor that I have inherited from my father, and he from his father in Makkah decades ago — even before when Saudi Arabia was established.
Saudis who have just performed Haj made several observations. Some of what they said has been repeated year after year, and yet the authorities have never done anything to solve the problem. For example, there is the problem of pilgrims spreading their mats and then sitting on them near the Jamarat area. The bridge that people walk above or under when they perform the ritual of stoning the devil is not a large space, so the pilgrims who choose to make this area their permanent base cause serious congestion every year.
Imagine a street that is 50 meters wide. Throngs of pilgrims sitting on the pavement accommodate 35 meters of that space. There is only 15 meters left for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to pass through. And let us not forget that there are many cars in the area.
What I fail to understand is why the police do not prevent these people from sitting there and causing problems for others. We have over 10 government forces working during Haj to ensure the safety of pilgrims performing their Haj. Can’t something be done to prevent these large masses of people from taking such a sensitive spot for their stay?
Another observation others have made this year is that areas in Mina need more public lavatories. When millions fill the holy sites, a few lavatories scattered about every couple of kilometers do not do the job. New water faucets which provide cold water for pilgrims were installed in the area where my camp was in Mina; but there were no lavatories whatsoever.
Another thing that caught my attention this Haj was how people distribute free juice from trucks. Several people throw the juice into the crowds of pilgrims who have surrounded the vehicles, as though it were a sport. The result? The strong get the drinks and the weak do not.
The pilgrimage provides a golden opportunity for pickpockets and professional beggars. I have seen beggars as well in the middle of the street in Mina, many playing at being poor. The handicapped move around on their three-wheeler bikes, or crawl along the floor using their hands.
These professional beggars come to the holy sites to take advantage of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, who naturally give them handouts.
I also experienced something else I had never seen before in the 13 years I have been working in Haj. The Ministry of Communications sold a project to the Ministry of Haj for the application of the Establishment of Southeast Asian pilgrims this year. The plan was called “shuttle trips a better solution”. On paper, the plan seemed simple. A road that would be only used for buses belonging to the establishment would take pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifah and then the pilgrims were dropped off in Muzdalifah. Other buses would pick them up to take them to Mina.
Although the shuttle trip was successful taking pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifah, it failed to take them from Muzdalifah to Mina. I will never forget the sight that greeted me when I arrived in Muzdalifah with the last batch of pilgrims in my group.
The area the Ministry of Communications built for this project to house some 300,000 Southeast Asian pilgrims who belonged to 100 service groups was no larger than two football pitches. Moreover, it was an open area, not tented, and full of gravel and stones. It had only a few lavatories, and no food kiosks whatsoever.
Most of pilgrims were tired, and some used their handbags as pillows while sleeping on the gravel. Others became frustrated. To make matters worse, there were no traffic police officers in sight, no one from the establishment, or the Ministry of Haj or Ministry of Communications.
Arab News Opinion 19 February 2003
