MINA, 4 February 2004 — Hundreds of buses and cars streamed out of Mina and Makkah, packed with pilgrims heading home after what for many was a once-in-lifetime journey of faith. After living in austere conditions for the past week, the devout traveled to Jeddah to catch flights back home or to the holy city of Madinah to offer prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque, the second holiest site in Islam.
“Thank God, I completed the pilgrimage. I hope I live long enough to come back here again,” Maroof Abdali of Afghanistan said upon leaving Mina. Abdali, his head shaved in a tradition dating back to Prophet Muhammad’s pilgrimage 1400 years ago, exchanged congratulations with friends and relatives as they left the tent city.
“I pray to God to give every Muslim a chance to do this. It has been even better than I expected,” said Sudanese pilgrim Yassin Tahir. Nigerian Muhammad Ahmed, who was on his third pilgrimage, said: “I thank God. It has been a great religious experience for me. It gets better and better each time.”
Most pilgrims were relatively unfazed by Sunday’s stampede that cost 251 lives. The incident did nothing to quell the fervor of the faithful who jostled for the best positions from which to throw their pebbles on the third and last day of the pilgrimage.
“The two million faithful who gather every year at the holy sites for the pilgrimage hope to have the honor of being buried in this sacred soil,” said Libyan Muhammad Taylamun.
Feelings of loss about those who die are balanced by certainty that they have been chosen to go to Heaven. “When our ancestors left for the pilgrimage to Makkah, they bid farewell to their friends and set off by camel or boat for a journey which often lasted several months each way,” said Abdullah Muhammad, a Senegalese.
“The death of a pilgrim, which would be known only when the caravan returned, was met with respect and piety because of the honor accorded to those who breathed their last in Makkah,” he said.
“I wish I were among the pilgrims who died on Sunday,” Kamal Shahada, an Egyptian pilgrim, said.
“Those who died will be missed by their families and friends but they have a chance no one else can have by dying in the holy land of Islam where they are then buried,” said a Bangladeshi.
The Council of Senior Islamic Scholars, the highest religious body in Saudi Arabia, announced it would meet on Thursday in Makkah to seek a solution to halt the stampedes. The Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, stressed that while the stampede was an act of God, the council intends “to seek by all means to avoid similar accidents” in the future.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd issued a royal decree on Monday for modernizing the holy sites, including Mina, in a 20-year project to be organized by ministers and senior government officials.
Most pilgrims begin their journeys home today. A sense of fulfillment gripped many though others were sad at the thought of departing the holy land. “I feel that I have been totally purified,” said Haya Mahmoud from Pakistan. She said she was happy, “I got the chance to come here in the first place.”
But for Egyptian Ahlam Abdel Aleem the thought of leaving was hard to face. “We have almost finished the stoning and our group will be heading to Makkah to bid farewell to God’s House.” Once back in Makkah, the pilgrims perform the Tawaf Al-Wida of the Holy Kaaba that ends the Haj.
— Additional input from agencies
