I’ve covered Haj on foot, bus, truck and bike, but this year I had my first look at the tent city of Mina from overhead. Thanks to a friendly lift from a Civil Defense helicopter, all the improvements at the tent city were laid out before my eyes.
The Jamrat area has undergone the greatest transformation. So much has been written about the construction efforts for the new Jamrat Bridge that I didn’t expect to be surprised by the sight of it. But surprised I was. The new bridge is huge and already two levels — ground and first level — have been completed. There is an air-conditioned basement as well. The basement is actually a highway that allows the transport of aged and infirm pilgrims directly to Mina and can also be used for the movement of ambulances and emergency vehicles.
The bridge is in the shape of an “X” with the pillars to be stoned at the center of the X. The pebbles used to stone the pillars drop directly to the basement level of the bridge and down a ramp where they are removed pneumatically.
Television stations broadcasting from the area show cranes and heavy equipment in the Jamrat Bridge area so many people think the bridge is not ready for the pilgrims. That is not true. After Haj this year, more levels will be added to the bridge and other improvements made but the bridge in its current condition will greatly facilitate this year’s pilgrimage.
From the start, the authorities are being very strict concerning squatters in the area of the Jamrat Bridge. No one is allowed to even loiter in the area, let alone sit down and put out a sleeping mat. We had hoped that there would be fewer squatters this year.
In the morning, the temperature was about 10 degrees (50 F), with dusty conditions due to strong winds. By the time we finished performing ablutions for the morning prayer we were thoroughly chilled. The few pilgrims we saw walking about looked extremely uncomfortable. There were no squatters in sight. Numerous fatwas have been issued advising the pilgrims to cover themselves with blankets or other heavy cloth since protecting life and health is of great importance in Islam. Unfortunately many pilgrims believe that coping with the cold weather wearing only their ihram is one of the hardships of Haj that must be faced. May Allah protect them.
By the afternoon, the temperature rose to about 20 degrees (68 F) and squatters began appearing on every pavement outside the Jamrat area. However, the squatters were resting on mats and there was no sign of the small Chinese tents that they all used to pitch, especially as shelter for women and children. They were already causing congestion on the routes toward Masjid Al-Khaif. As the only mosque in the tent city and a place where all the companions of the Holy Prophet prayed, this mosque is the scene of the most activity in Mina.
One of the most prominent personalities associated with the Haj in modern times is the international news anchor Riz Khan. There is no denying that Khan put Haj on the global media map. His excellent reporting of the Haj for CNN in 2001 and 2002 will never be forgotten. He was the one who pioneered the broadcasting of the holy rituals to an international audience.
As Khan has joined Al-Jazeera’s English service it was thought that he would be prominent at this year’s pilgrimage. Speaking to him on the phone the other day, he had this to say. “I’m missing it this year. I wish I were there but due to the fact that Al-Jazeera English was launched only in November, there was no time to complete the formalities in order to cover this year’s Haj. I have so much footage though from previous years, so we will have great coverage anyway.”
Interest in the Haj and in Islam is certainly at an all-time high and there are numerous new publications available to provide insight to the holy rituals. One of the most interesting of these is a book titled “Saudi Arabia By The First Photographers,” by William Facey and Gillian Grant (Stacey International). The book discusses in detail the photographers who took photos of the holy places nearly 100 years ago. They are fascinating to say the least. The book is available at Jarir Bookstores and is a must-see for all those interested in the photographic history of the holy places.
The first thing that I did on arriving into the tent city of Mina on Wednesday was to look at Masjid Al-Khaif. Our Madinah correspondent Yousuf Muhammad took a picture of the mosque as it looks now. You can compare it to how it looked then. The picture reproduced in Facey’s book is nearly 100 years old. It was taken by Mirza & Sons during the pilgrimage of 1907.
There are some interesting details in Facey’s book:
“On Aug. 24, 1884, a European disembarked at Jeddah with a camera in his luggage; he was the Dutch Islamic scholar Dr. Christian Snouck Hurgronje, a convert to Islam who had come with the intention of observing the pilgrimage at first hand. His knowledge of Arabic and Islam was extensive, but the details of his sojourn in the region are tantalizingly scanty. He published two separate portfolios of photographs of the Hijaz in the late 1880s. The first included views of Makkah and studio-type portraits of local dignitaries and visiting pilgrims; his only published comment on these photographs however, was a note in the introduction to the accompanying text, where he attributed two of the plates to Muhammad Sadiq, and the rest to himself and an unnamed Arab whom he had instructed in photography. Little is known of Col. Muhammad Sadiq’s life, except that his photographic talent was publicly recognized when he was awarded a certificate and gold medal at the Venice photographic fairs of 1876 and 1881; in 1887 the Khedive himself awarded him a medal.”
“Hurgronje’s second portfolio,” Facey writes, “was probably entirely the work of this anonymous Arab photographer and accomplished what Hurgronje had set out but failed to do; it provided a photographic record of the pilgrimage. In his introduction to the second portfolio, Hurgronje explained that soon after the completion of his first book on Makkah he had received some new photographs from the Arab photographer, whom he now described as a Makkah doctor. The identity of the doctor remains a mystery, but it is interesting that some of his prints are signed with the name adopted by Hurgronje himself — Al-Sayyid Abd Al-Ghaffar.”
According to the book, in early 1900s a firm of Indian commercial photographers — H.A. Mirza & Sons of Delhi — were producing fine quality prints of pilgrimage sites. “These photographs were probably offered for sale in Jeddah and Makkah as souvenirs of the pilgrimage, a supposition which is confirmed by H.A. Wavell, who noted in his book ‘A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca’ (1912) that the photographs of Makkah and Madinah contained therein had been purchased in Makkah at one of the bookshops in the street leading to the main gate of the Haram.”
How times have changed. Now pilgrims take out their mobile phones and snap off quick photos to attach to MMS messages and send instantly back to relatives and friends at home.
