On 9th Zilhijjah it rained in Arafah while the pilgrims were supplicating, on 10th it rained in Haram while they were performing Tawaf-e-Ziyarat during Asar and on 11th it rained in Mina while they were heading towards Jamarat to pelt the Satan. An Indonesian woman arrived for Hajj after 26 years of saving by collecting and selling recyclable trash. Few men cycled from the UK and Kenya to Hajj to raise money for charity. One man walked from Bosnia and another from Indonesia to perform Hajj. A man was hospitalised, but he completed his Hajj on a hospital bed. A young boy was pushing his mother in a wheelchair, helping her perform Tawaf. This was Hajj 1440.
The following are the various perspectives from one’s Hajj visit:
SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
Hajj is a spiritual journey. It is a journey which gets the pilgrim close to Allah and His house, as Ka’aba is a symbol of Allah. The pilgrim gets to see Islam in full action during his visit to Hajj. It gives the pilgrim an opportunity to seek sincere forgiveness, cleanse his heart and become a better human being. The pilgrim’s faith increases as he sees the Ka’aba for the first time and he would continue to see it again and again. During the visit, the pilgrim also gets to go to Madinah, the city of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). This visit instils love for the Prophet, the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Companions. All this increases the state and level of Eman and make pilgrim more spiritual and religious.
SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
Universal Brotherhood was in true action. A security officer carried an elderly pilgrim 3 kms to Arafah. A security person held an umbrella to make it easy for the pilgrim to supplicate when it was raining heavily. A security person served thirsty pilgrims with Zam Zam water as they were not allowed to enter a particular area of the Haram for a particular time, in order to manage the crowd. A pilgrim guided another with visual impairments around the Ka’aba for Tawaf.
An Indian helping a Pakistani, an American joking with an African, an Australian sharing food with a Bangladeshi is what you could witness. A pilgrim goes out of his way to help his fellow Hajji perform all the rituals of Hajj in a proper manner. Pilgrims, on the day of Arafah, spend a lot of money and distribute food, fruit, juice, ice cream and water to their fellow pilgrims. Pilgrims from different countries, white, black, tall, short, weak, strong, young and old, all standing in one straight line to perform Salah. What was common among all these pilgrims? They were all Muslims believing in one Kalima, believing in the last Prophet and believing in the last book sent by Allah and it is the Ka’aba which has united them all.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Hajj is only a 5- or 6-day affair. During the stay in Makkah and Madinah, the pilgrims do visit a lot of historical places. These places help the pilgrim to connect with what he has heard about the history of Islam. Other than seeing the Ka’aba, Mountain of Safa and Marwa, the pilgrim gets to visit various places like House of Abu Bakr, House of Umar, House of Khadija, Daarul Arqam, Jabal Abu Qubais, Jannat-ul-Mu’alla (Graveyard of Makkah), Jabal Noor (Ghar-i-Hira), Jabal Thawr (Ghar-i-Thawr), Hudaybiya. In Madinah, we get to witness the nine pillars in Masjid-e-Nabavi, Riyaz-ul-Jannah, Ashab us-Suffah, Jannat-ul-Baqi (Graveyard of Madinah), Masjid-e-Quba, Masjid Qiblatain, places of Battle of Badar and Battle of Uhad, Well of Uthman, Taif, Madrasa and Masjid of Abdullah ibn Abbas.
ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
Hajj generates a lot of employment in Makkah, Madinah and other nearby places like Jeddah, Taif and Badar. People from different parts of Saudi Arabia come to Makkah and Madinah during Hajj, seeking employment. People not only from Saudi Arabia, but from countries like Turkey and Egypt come to Makkah and Madinah to seek employment.
Hajj also strengthens the economy of Saudi Arabia as it brings in a lot of foreign currency into the country’s economy. Due to lack of workers in various departments, people from Arab countries are also recruited. Various industries such as road transport, airlines, telecom, food, hotel, restaurants, shopping (Prayer Mat, Dates, Show Pieces, etc.) barbers, wheel chair pushers, labourers, etc., are benefited during the period.
MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE
The Saudi General Authority for Statistics announced that the official number of pilgrims taking part in 1440 was 24,89,406. Of those, 18,55,027 came from abroad and 6,34,379 are from within the Kingdom. The vast majority, 93 per cent of international pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom by air, while 5.2 per cent arrived overland and the remainder came by sea. Domestic pilgrims travelled to Makkah using around 33,000 vehicles, most of which were small cars.
Hajj is all about managing this huge number of people and helping them complete all the aspects of Hajj in a smooth manner. Hajj is not only about staying in one place, it is all about seven journeys, and organising and facilitating this is the real challenge on hand. The organisers did a wonderful job in keep the place clean and helping the pilgrims perform all rituals with ease. On the other hand efforts were constantly put to keep the Haram clean, ensure continuous availability of Zam Zam water and providing all types of facilities so that the pilgrims can pray without any kind of difficulty. In order to make the management easy, local people were not allowed to enter Makkah during the period of Hajj.
HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
However rich you are, during Hajj, pilgrims will have to walk, because even the taxi driver will not be able to help you, as the roads will be blocked by police. Hajj is all about physical struggle. The stronger and younger you are, the easier it will be for you to perform your Hajj. If you are strong and young, you can also help others who are weak and old. Hajj is also an act performed to seek the pleasure of Allah, thanking Him for giving us good health. Thus, it is always better to perform Hajj when we are young. Good health is a very important aspect of Islam because only a person with good health will be able to give his 100% in striving in the way of Allah.
NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Pilgrims have come for Hajj after spending a huge amount of money and for many of them it would be the first and last visit, but they have come without understanding the objective and purpose of Hajj. Pilgrims also come with reading and learning about the procedure of Hajj. They have come to perform Hajj, and would be completely dependent on the tour operator or tour organiser.
Every minute is important because we do not know if we could come back again. But pilgrims spend a lot of time in shopping. They are busy shopping for their children and family members. Some pilgrims are so engrossed in shopping that it looks like they have lost focus from worship and shopping has become their primary objective. Few pilgrims, even after coming to the hold city, do not give up their bad and wrong habits. They waste time, indulge in loose talks, backbite, get angry, waste lots of food, and much more.
The saddest and happiest moment of Hajj is the same. It is Tawaf-e-Wida. It is the saddest because it is an indication that our time to leave Makkah has arrived. It is the happiest moment that we are going to return to our homes and families and are completely charged up to fulfil our responsibility of a true Muslim, as we have moved from self-centredness to God-centeredness. Hajj is a journey of life time. Surely, Hajj 1440 will be remembered for its continuous rain for three days and for its smooth conduct without any major accident. The million dollar question, what we have to take back from Hajj?