ARAFAT, 10 January 2006 — As everyone knows, tension between the governments of Lebanon and Syria is high these days. TV news reports often make it seem that tension is high between these once friendly neighbors. So how did it happen that in Makkah, two couples — one from Lebanon and the other from Syria — chose to perform Haj together?
Fate has brought Barika and Abdul Younes Fataah and Ahlam and her husband Ziad Hakam together.
The two couples met each other years ago when Hakam and his wife came to Beirut from Damascus on business. It was a difficult, frightening time then during Lebanon’s civil war, but throughout all the violence, life went on and the two couples spent many happy hours together.
Eventually Hakam and his family returned to Damascus and the couples lost track of one another until last week in the Grand Mosque. The Fataahs had been performing Umrah and the Hakams had come to make tawaaf when chance brought them together in the mosque. After the Fataahs completed the “saey” ritual, the couples went off to drink tea together.
They spent the entire night reminiscing about old times and catching up on the changes in their lives. Ahlam and Ziad Hakam have three children in Damascus. The Fataahs had left their two young children with friends in Jeddah. By morning, they all agreed that they must perform the remaining Haj rituals together and so the husbands set off to change mutawwifs to make that possible.
“We decided to dedicate this Haj to our friendship,” said Barika. “We know it might seem strange to hear such a statement after watching the news reports that constantly talk about the hatred between our two countries. People should remember that the media likes to highlight the negative. Yes, our nations have problems but they are political in nature. The person-to-person contact still remains very strong. The best example of that is our friendship.”
The couples spoke about the difficulties since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Both they were in agreement, however, that violence is not the way forward.
“We in Lebanon must remember that Syria came to our aid when nobody else was willing to help us,” said Abdul Younes Fataah. “We survived the Israeli onslaught because of Syria’s intervention. Syrian troops gave their lives to defend our country. Had it not been for them, we would have ceased to exist as a nation. I am not alone in holding this view. The vast majority think along similar lines and they refuse to take part in political demonstrations. They know full well about Syria’s contribution and it is unthinkable that Syrian-Lebanese relations will come to a complete standstill.”
“We will not allow that to happen,” chimed in Ahlam, with her husband nodding in agreement.
“In Arafat we will pray that the peoples of the two countries will not fall prey to the machinations of the enemies of the Muslim world. It is said that all the prayers in Arafat are answered. We are very optimistic that those who are trying to drive a wedge between our peoples will fail. Insha Allah.”
