Arab News has noted that a number of pilgrims go to Hira Cave, where revelation was first made to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or Jabal Al-Rahmah (Mountain of Mercy) in Arafat believing that this is part of Umrah rites or seeking God’s providence. Some of them even take stones from the mountain back home to bless their family.
Arab News also noted pilgrims who seek medical treatment for themselves and others collecting the seeds and grains thrown to pigeons and other birds near the Grand Mosque. Seeds to feed pigeons are sold by foreigners in small plastic bags for SR1 for pilgrims to buy and feed the pigeons. The grains and wheat are available in the districts of Al-Masfalah, Al-Hafair, Ghazah and others close to the Grand Mosque.
Asked why he was collecting the birds’ food, 60-year-old Pakistani pilgrim Riyasa Ghulam said his wife, who is six years younger than him, was sterile and failed to bear children during the long years of their marriage. “We tried all kinds of treatment everywhere in vain. A friend suggested we perform Umrah and eat the pigeon feed,” he said.
Ghulam said upon their arrival in Makkah, they immediately went to the Al-Misyal area where grains were thrown to the pigeons. “For a week now each one of us is eating seven seeds every day. We are still waiting for the result,” he said.
Ismail, an Egyptian pilgrim, said his wife, who is epileptic, could not be cured and her fits were increasing. He said a friend advised them to travel to Makkah for Umrah and to eat the food thrown to the pigeons to cure her. “The friend said my wife should eat three seeds with each of the three meals for three consecutive days. Two weeks have passed but my wife has not got better,” Ismail said.
He said the friend told them that the seeds should not be broken, and they should be taken together in one gulp. “We have carried the advise of the friend to the letter but nothing has happened so far,” he said.
Commenting on the issue, Muhammad Al-Suhali, director of the Islamic studies center at Umm Al-Qurah University, said only Muslims with weak faith and little knowledge of the religion would do these things. He advised pilgrims not to do things that are completely against the Islamic faith.
He also recalled a Hadith that says items found in Makkah (money, food or others) should not be picked up and used.
Al-Suhali asked the pilgrims to make use of their stay in the Grand Mosque to worship God sincerely and to ask Him for cure and for any other worldly matter.
