MAKKAH, 25 February 2007 — From counterfeit DVDs to aphrodisiacs, the Friday Market that is held in the Barnu neighborhood is the city’s second largest weekly market. Most of the goods are stolen and buyers and sellers tend to be of African nationalities without valid iqamas.
Sellers line the pavement with their wares in a massive open-air mela. The streets in Barnu are extremely narrow and with difficulty allow space for two cars. Congestion increases as the market begins to thrive straight after Friday prayers. The area is located half a kilometer from the Grand Mosque.
Every Friday, overstayers bring the area to a standstill by setting up shop to sell their products. Although buying and selling in such a fashion is unregulated and illegal, the police painstakingly organize traffic because the market is extremely popular among Makkah’s residents. In spite of the fact that the vast majority of shoppers and sellers tend to be overstayers, and most of the goods sold stolen, a marked absence of the Passport Department and municipality officials can be noticed.
The traders arrive in Barnu before Fajr prayer on Fridays to reserve a good spot in the market. The market begins activity straight after Fajr with people nosing around for an early bargain. After Friday prayers the market comes totally alive.
On sale are shoes, electrical items, knives and computer software and hardware. Most of the goods are stolen and it is commonly known in Makkah that if your home is burgled then there is a great possibility of finding your property at the Friday Market. Perhaps, the most alarming items on sale are the porn DVDs that transgress the sanctity of the holy city.
To visit the market, I parked my car at a distance away from the actual market in order to ensure I drew the least amount of attention to myself. From a distance I began taking pictures of the market. Close by an old man was busily selling used shoes, someone uttered that they had been stolen from outside a local mosque. Some of the shoes were in pairs where as others were single.
“SR10 for a single pair,” hissed the old man. “Single shoes are for SR4,” he added. I asked him why he was selling single shoes. The man gave me a dirty look and said, “Buy a single shoe and hop on one leg. Don’t ask too many questions, buy something or get lost.”
Perhaps one of the most popular sellers was a wrinkled old woman selling herbal products. Young men had gathered around her as she listed the benefits of the aphrodisiacs she had on special offer today.
“Are you having problems down below? If so try this,” pointed the woman to a small bag of green herbs on sale for SR10. The old woman had set up stall in a part of the market where sellers were generally selling herbal products.
Vying for customers, other sellers began shouting how they were selling the finest quality aphrodisiacs in the market.
“Come and get it, come and get it,” shouted one old man.
The man handed me a jar of cream. “For SR50 you can enlarge your penis within a week. Just rub some on at night and in the morning and your penis will be as strong and long as a horse’s,” screamed the man at the top of his voice as a host of sniggering customers took out SR50 for the “magic cream.”
Of course, there is no independent way of verifying the authenticity of the products on sale. Most customers tend to be desperate ignorant men. Such herbs and creams could prove to cause more damage than good.
Further down the market was a man selling clothes at SR5 each. On the other side of the road was a man selling computer equipment at SR20 each. I asked him for a modem and the man handed me a monitor. I asked for a monitor and he handed me a mouse followed in quick succession with two speakers. I wondered if he even knew how to switch on a computer.
Another computer seller said he was offering a good price today. “Buy one complete computer and you can have a second one free. It’s buy one get one free today,” he said. I cringed at the thought, wondering whether the computers even work.
The section of the market selling electricity equipment was also unique. Items were being sold without any guarantee that they worked. Customers were risking purchases. I saw a massive cassette player on sale for SR20.
As I meandered through the crowds and stalls, I continuously took pictures with my camera making sure that the flash was off.
After a few hours I mistakenly took a photo and forgot to turn the flash off. Immediately people’s attention was drawn to me. Someone asked if I was a journalist and so I made a dash as a group of African overstayers began running behind me. I ran as hard as I could hotly pursued by the overstayers. I then managed to reach the main road and the overstayers stopped their pursuit.
I took a break to catch my breath and then met some Saudi residents who live in the Al-Mansour Street, a busy thoroughfare in Makkah.
“A lot of the items sold there are stolen or what people have collected from rubbish tips,” said a local Saudi referring to the Friday Market.
“They polish and clean the things they have stolen and then sell them in the market. As for the electronic items, they are generally stolen,” he added.
One old Saudi man added, “There is a very strong possibility you would find your shoes in this market if they went missing from outside a mosque. The problem is that you will have to buy them back from the thief who’s stolen them, which is unbelievable. I wish the Passport Department would raid this place every now and then. These sorts of places bring the holy city in disrepute.”
