Alhamdullilah, I returned from Jeddah, via Amman, a couple of days ago. I have some random thoughts on my Hajj experiences I will jot down here but might write something more extensive later given time (I've already had to start working too!).
- Weber was probably right: Europeans do bureaucracies better.
- Don't believe the hype: British Muslims are more British than they would like you to think.
- Western Muslims are a bunch of softies.
- "Near the time of Qiyaamah the rich ones from amongst my Ummah will perform Hajj for the sake of travel and holiday [...] The middle class will perform Hajj for commercial purposes, thereby transporting goods from here to there while bringing commercial goods from there to here. The Ulamaa will perform Hajj for the sake of show and fame [...] The poor will perform Hajj for the purpose of begging" (link). You must do Hajj to fathom this in its entirety. God forgive us.
- But (on a positive note), Surat al-Nasr verse 2, says something along the lines of 'you will see the people enter God's Religion in crowds'. No matter where around the masjid you stand (I was staying on Ibrahim Khalil Road), the full import of this verse, beyond its historical reference to the Prophet's (upon whom be peace) time, becomes clear when all you see is people from all four corners entering (or attemping to enter!) Masjid al-Haram and perform salat. No matter what time you come to perform a tawaf or sa'i, there are literally, people of all sizes, colours, shapes, nationalities, races. It's a flag-lovers dream to spot the most obscure flag stiched on the clothing or baggage of pilgrims. Subhanallah, it truely is a sight.
- Who said the Saudi authorities don't know anything about irony? I mean, why else would they build an Intercontinental Hotel outside the Haram at Makkah and call it Dar al-Tawhid?
- Some people forget to stone the devil inside them.
- The Zam Zam Towers are less than half complete but salesmen are floating around the Haram offering apartments to pilgrims; if you're interested they start at around SR 200,000 (I only know the figure because it was repeated to me more times a day than the azaan).
- Our architecture must be associated with our faith of whatever kind (religious or secular) because it is only faith that can inspire. If so, what can we make of the relentless construction of multistorey hotels, skyscapers and shopping plazas around Makkah and Masjid al-Nabawi? (Didn't William Golding write something on faith architecture?)
- The authorities in Makkah and Medina should stick a sign up at the entrance to the Masjid al-Haram, like those found in so many mosques around the world now: "Switch off your mobile phone".
- Is there something left in this world that isn't made in China?
- Queues are probably haram. As is efficiency.
- Add the exercise of reason to the above.
- Whatever else one can say about the Saudi ruling clan, it can't be denied that they do at least care, however much one may speculate, about their role as "Custodians of the Two Holy Places"; they've obviously spent a lot of money on modernising the facilities at the two sites, as well as at Mina.
- My own personal interpretation of the tawaf: it's exactly like life. In some parts of the circuit you struggle, usually against other people, as you do in life; in other parts of the circuit you find relief and ease, just as you do in life.
- Is our own salvation more important the well being and lives of our fellow man?
- A sign above a water station which says "Men Only" does not really mean men only, but means sending your wife to collect water from a water station marked "Men Only" and then telling other men they are committing haram when she bumps into them.
- The incident at the Jamarat could be avoided if people were taught -- or bothered to learn -- the siginificance of the various rites of the Hajj. Instead people are selfish. One of my relatives was caught up in the incident and says she saw people literally climbing over other people to get away from the area. I only found out about the full extent of the incident when I returned to Makkah around Asr time and received a phone call from my worried sister.
- Did the Prophet (upon whom be peace) ever kick or punch or shove someone to get a drink of water?
- A new technique for making room for oneself in a crowded mosque: "accidentally" kick the worshipper sitting down while chanting "bismillah".
- What would our Prophet (upon whom be peace) have made of the fighting and jumping to enter the area between his pulpit and his resting place?
- The Hajj provides an indication of the most advanced Muslim nations in terms of management, organisation and use of resources. Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia pass with flying colours. Pakistan fails miserabley.
- Underestimate Turkish pensioners at your own peril.
- How many Saudi nationals have ever had their hands amputated for stealing?
- There's a reason why Muslims lost control of their third holy site. Just look at the way they treat their other two. Mina and Muzdalifa looked like two huge rubbish sites once the days of rites were finished and people were happy to throw their rubbish anywhere and everywhere around the Masjid al-Haram.
- Never again will I believe the claim that Muslims don't wish to be part of modern consumerist societies. Visit Makkah during Hajj and witness the frenzied shopping between prayers (even between Isha and Fajr), the voracious consumption and the sheer waste produced. There were huge queues and fights to get food and drink from the street vendors who would turn up in Mina and Muzdalifa -- and you only spend one night at Muzdalifa!
- If you're rich enough you too can be chauffeur driven, in gas-guzzling SUVs, through the crowds at the Jamarat and have a ring of bodyguards protect you from the plebs.
- Some Muslims will blame God's will for their own incompetence (like organising a 25-seat minibus for 24 people and all their luggage).
- I now understand why my employers have difficulty in selling risk management services to our Middle East clients.
- Every beauty does indeed have a veil. Some are more heavily veiled than others, and for me the heaviest veiled was sabr. It is especially difficult to unveil when a hefty Misri is repeatedly shoving you in your back while telling you to have patience.
- Having an umbrella with holes during an Indian monsoon would be more useful than asking a Saudi policeman for directions.
- Not directly Hajj related: if the Hashemite clan want outsiders to invest in Jordan -- as adverts around Queen Aliya Airport suggest -- then the King's advisors would be advised to ask him to invest some of the US Aid he receives in toilet flushes for their airports.
I'm reading "One Thousand Roads to Mecca" a collection of a millenia of Hajj accounts & what struck me about the hadith you quoted is how true it is for every age & generation.
May your hajj be accepted & may it be a source of inspiration & baraka for you, ameen!
Posted by: Baraka | January 24, 2006 at 01:42 AM
Salaam 'Alaikum
Some people forget to stone the devil inside them.////
Subhan'Allah!
Posted by: Umm Zaid | January 26, 2006 at 06:32 AM
I laughed out loud when I read this:
'Underestimate Turkish pensioners at your own peril.'
A useful thing to remember, especially if you are dimensionally-challenged, or come fom South East Asia.
I felt sad when reading about the rich people in SUVs though. I thought one of the points of Hajj is the equality between the haves and the have-nots.
May Allah grant your a mabrur hajj, inshaAllah!
Posted by: kenakelayan | January 26, 2006 at 04:04 PM
Assalamoalaykum Brother,
Some Ulema have explained that when a person comes back from Hajj, he should not tell anyone about the hardships he saw or difficulties he encountered while there. If someone asks, he should just say 'Alhumdulillah' and say everything went okay.
The reason for this is that there are many many other people who have not been on hajj yet, so just giving a list of all the negative things might put them off and give them a negative feeling and this might affect them.
So it is better to only tell about good things and give encouragement to go for hajj.
Wasalaam.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 26, 2006 at 10:00 PM
good to know that things haven't changed since I was last there...oh '81-'82. At all.
Posted by: sepoy | January 27, 2006 at 01:48 AM
My wife who is not a muslim like me is in total denial of what yo have written - I? Oh! I am a believer ;)
Posted by: Tarique Sani | February 01, 2006 at 10:09 AM
Thabet, just wanted to say I really appreciated this post, jazakallahu khairan.
Posted by: Osama Saeed | February 10, 2006 at 11:21 PM
assalamu 'alaykum
Many thanks for your kind words, Osama. God bless you.
Anonymous (further up): Thank you for concern and advice. Although I am somewhat flattered with the suggestion that my powers of persuasion are so great that I could influence another Muslim into abandoning a core obligation like Hajj (not that it what I intended by this post; they were random reflections on my Hajj experiences.) God bless and protect you.
Posted by: thabet | February 11, 2006 at 11:46 AM
I liked the post.
Some of your reflections resonate oh so much with the collective reflections of everyone else who went on hajj -- an experience that can only be fathomed in terms of its intensity, an intensity in regards to emotions, thoughts, and experiences that span the entire spectrum; don't you think? :-)
jazakallah khairan :-)
Posted by: Farooq | February 12, 2006 at 01:34 PM