Kuwait approved an Iraqi request to allow Iraqi Haj pilgrims to travel via Kuwait on the condition that Iraqi authorities submit lists of all the prospective pilgrims' names beforehand.
Kuwait reviewed all the names to discover if any of those listed have security restrictions before issuing approval, said Tariq Al-Mahdi, an Iraqi pilgrim.
“Last year, Iraqi Haj pilgrims came to Kuwait only by air, but Kuwaiti authorities provided more facilities to pilgrims this year, therefore we were allowed to travel by road through the neighboring country,” he said. “My biggest motivation here is to pray for the unity of our country.
Only unity can bring back security, safety and prosperity,” said another pilgrim.
Khadija, a 70-year-old widow from the Iraqi city of Samarra, said she lost her husband and two sons in a terrorist attack on a mosque in her home city.
“I prayed that no other woman in Iraq suffers the way I have suffered. Our sufferings have increased manifold with the stay of foreign troops,” she said. “We pray for the foreigners to leave. They are the ones who have torn us apart.”
This year's Haj takes place amid escalating violence between Sunnis and Shiites that has taken Iraq to the brink of civil war.
“Violence is at an all-time high in Iraq. Tension is also high in Lebanon, which is a cause of concern because we fear the sectarian splits will spill over into neighboring countries,” said Tariq.
Asked if he was worried about the delay in the formation of an Iraqi government following elections earlier this year, Tariq said it was the politicians who have let them down.
“Earlier, it was Saddam. Now it’s Nuri Al-Maliki and Iyad Alawi. They are interested in their own personal gains at the cost of deteriorating condition of our beloved country,” said the pilgrim.
Imad Hussein, another member of the Iraqi Haj group, said he wishes those in the Iraqi government would work together, “the way we have prayed unitedly, shoulder to shoulder, without any discrimination between Shiite or Sunnis here at Arafat.”
Qadeer Anwar Al-Adhari, a 45-year-old Iraqi pilgrim, said in Asmar, where he is from, “Sunnis are married to Shiites and vice versa. “ The eyes of Suraiyya Nahdi, 65, welled with tears as she recounted the conditions in Baghdad.
“What a pity,” she said. “We need to pray for Iraq. You must pray with us for our homeland.”
On her way back from Arafat, Nahdi and her husband Anwar Abu Suleman said they prayed for dozens of relatives, neighbors and friends that have been killed in violence in their home country since the invasion in 2003.
“We have suffered so much grief that Satan plays with the minds of some of us and gets them to start questioning the most important thing in life: Faith in Allah,” said Abu Suleman.
Asked if he was a Shiite or a Sunni, the old man scoffed: “We are Muslims. This is the message I want to send to those who want to divide us to pursue their own agenda.”
