Introduction: After living for 31 years in Saudi Arabia, I had planned to write a book about my experiences of living there. Early in 2015, I was invited by a Business Group in Jeddah to serialise the story, and it gave me the push I needed to get started. This is now the 8th Chapter, but I have had to upload it in two parts due to word count restrictions on this website. If you are interested in reading the previous chapters, please go to my website www.bizziefrostphotography.com
Chapter 8: The Hajj, Part 2
The methods of travel to Makkah have made pilgrims’ journeys considerably easier over the years. First of all, the advent of the steam ship meant that sailing vessels no longer had to depend on the prevailing winds to get to Arabia. From Damascus came the Ottoman Hejaz Railway in 1908, built specifically to transport pilgrims to Madinah. It was a much cheaper and quicker way to travel than going by camel caravan, but this ‘iron donkey’6 was still open to attacks by local bedouin tribes who derived their income from the traditional form of transport. Then later in the 20th Century, air travel took over. Most pilgrims now fly into Jeddah and rather than walk the 95 kms to Makkah, they go by bus. The new high speed Haramain Railway is currently under construction to make this journey even simpler and quicker, connecting Jeddah, Makkah, Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifa and Medina.
Accommodation in Makkah has also kept pace with time: most of the pilgrims stay in the sprawling tented city at Mina, but the royal and rich have a choice of the world’s top hotel brands from which to choose, with luxury suites offering imperious views over the Grand Mosque and Kaaba. There might be equality in the clothing for the Hajj, but that is where any egalitarianism ends. Sadly, numerous buildings that once surrounded the Grand Mosque and were testament to the history and character of Makkah have been destroyed to make way for the highly controversial Abraj Al-Bait Towers. Both the Ottoman Ajyad Fortress and the hill on which it stood were flattened to make way for this complex. Central to the development is the tallest clock tower in the world, 600 metres high with the world’s largest clock face; below it are a five story shopping mall, numerous luxury hotels, and two heliports. These imposing structures dominate the nine minarets of this holiest of Muslim cities, shouting out a powerful message of the commercialisation of the Hajj. Some residents of Makkah even refer to their city as ‘Las Vegas’.7 Magnificent carved wooden doors, window frames and other woodwork from the old houses found their way into the scruffy parade of antique shops that were once near the old Jeddah airport. Exorbitant price tags were attached to these irreplaceable souvenirs of the revered city. In the 1990s, we bought four matching strips and had them joined up to make a mirror frame, now hanging in our home in Kenya.
Along with the men’s Irham garments,the rituals that are performed during the Hajj haven’t changed over the centuries, but the number of pilgrims has increased dramatically. They no longer face the perils on their long journeys to Makkah, but they do face the very real danger of being crushed to death when these massive crowds panic. The young, the fit, the old, and the infirm in their wheelchairs all follow the structured routine first established by the Prophet Mohammed in 632 CE. It was his first and only pilgrimage.
Makkah lies nestled in a valley in the rugged foothills of the Hejaz Mountains. It is so hidden from view that even from a relatively close distance, you can’t see the massive clock tower or minarets. On a return from Taif one day, we were so engrossed in conversation that we forgot to take the turn off marked: ‘Non Muslims’ and found ourselves heading down the dual carriageway towards the forbidden city. When we arrived at the checkpoint, we were surprised to find that the policeman was very lackadaisical about this: “Mafi mushkila, you go, turn back down there,” he said, waving an arm down the road. We continued for several miles, all the time hoping to catch a glimpse of something, but were disappointed.
When pilgrims first arrive in Makkah, they must be almost overcome with euphoria to see the place they have dreamed of visiting their entire lives. United in their devotion, with men and women mingling together, they swarm towards the Grand Mosque where they perform ‘tawaf’ by circumambulating the black Ka’abah in the centre. seven times in an anticlockwise direction, symbolising the unity among them in serving one God. This granite structure is considered to be the holiest shrine in Islam. It houses the Black Stone, thought to be a meteorite, and believed to have been given to Abraham by the Angel Gabriel. A solid gold door leading into the windowless Kaabah was added by the Saudis in 1982, and the entire structure is draped in the ‘kiswa’, a black silk cloth. A broad belt of Quranic inscriptions, heavily embroidered in silver and gold thread, surrounds the top of the ‘kiswa’, and an additional panel drops down one side to form a dramatic curtain over the golden door.8
Having completed the ‘tawaf’, the pilgrims walk, or jog, seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah. This commemorates the time when Abraham had sent his Egyptian slave, Hagar, into the desert with their infant son, Ishmael. In desperation to find water, Hagar had run between the two hills looking for help. The distance is about 410m and, to accommodate the enormous crowds, it is now covered by a three storey high corridor . When Hagar returned to her baby and lifted him up, she found water bubbling up from where his foot (or in other versions, Gabriel’s wing) had struck a rock. This is what became known as ‘zamzam’ water, and most pilgrims like to take a container of this back to their home country.
The following day, considered to be the first day of Hajj, the stream of pilgrims flows down several parallel arteries towards Mina, stretching as far as the eye can see. Here, they perform all five prayers of the day. On the second day, this solid mass of humanity, carrying backpacks with sleeping mats and tents, moves towards Mt. Arafat, a granite hill thirteen kilometres away. Some of them opt to go by bus, with many of them sitting on the roof racks. The pedestrians, many using umbrellas to shield themselves from the harsh sun, jostle for position on a road shared with vehicles heading in the same direction. Once the Al Haramain train is up and running, it will cover this section in just thirteen minutes.
At Arafat, some might climb up the rocky hillside, while others remain on the plains. They spend the day listening sermons and performing prayers until sunset, when they move back to Muzdalifah for evening and night prayers, and to sleep overnight. As darkness falls over this barren landscape, over two million people search for a space on which to park their sleeping bag or mat, or rig their tent. Either here, or back in Mina, the pilgrims collect twenty-one, forty-nine, or seventy small pebbles with which to pelt the devil when they arrive back at Mina the following day. That is roughly 140 million pebbles, and it is surprising that there are enough to go round, and that no one has thought of selling them to the pilgrims in little souvenir bags.
On the third day, the solid processions move back to Mina for ‘jamarat’, where they throw seven pebbles at the largest of three stone walls, commemorating Abraham’s rejection of the devil. To cope with this ocean of people all carrying out the same ritual, five levels of walkways have been constructed.
Following the ‘jamarat’, men must shave off their hair, or cut a piece off, and women also clip off a small piece, to symbolise the removal of sin and filth from one’s soul and body.
This day is also Eid ul Adha, the day of the sacrifice, representing the time when Abraham received the divine order to sacrifice his son. As he was about to carry out the command, he was told to stop, and to sacrifice a ram that was caught up in the nearby bushes instead. In the past, hundreds of thousands of animals were sacrificed but, without proper facilities to store the meat, most of it had to be destroyed by burning or burying it. The Islamic regulations relating to this ritual have, unlike most other aspects of Islam, moved with the times and a pilgrim is no longer required to carry out, or witness, an individual sacrifice himself. Instead, it can be done by proxy: a voucher may be included with his Hajj package, or he can buy one from a local Saudi bank or Post Office or, even more convenient, may purchase a share in a sacrifice on line. These shared proxy sacrifices are then carried out in proper abattoirs. Facilities have been developed to flash freeze and store the enormous amount of meat, as well as transport it to poorer countries where it is needed. This importation and slaughter of hundreds of cattle and camels, and hundreds of thousands of sheep, has become a massive industry in Saudi Arabia.
During the last two days of Hajj, pilgrims continue with the ‘jamarat’ ritual, now throwing seven pebbles at each of the three stone walls, going from east to west. They bring their pilgrimage to an end on the 13th Dhu Al Hijjah by once again circling the Ka’aba seven times.
Historically, Makkah has always been a trading centre, and once their Hajj is over, the religious visitors to do what other tourists do: they go shopping.
6 2012, Stacey International. Nicholson, James. The Hejaz Railway.
8 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam/beginners-guide-islamic/a/the-kaaba
Hi Lorraine, Thanks again for great feedback, and so pleased you enjoyed reading it. Although this chapter was a huge challenge when I set out with it, mainly due to the amount of research involved, it was the one that I have most enjoyed writing because of how much I learnt! It has made the writing process so exciting for me. Will go through all your suggested corrections as usual & will re-post shortly. All the best. Bizzie
This is so interesting, Bizzie - and most westerners have no idea of what happens there.
Modernisation has both helped and hindered - it gets people there more easily, but they all arrive in their tens of thousands, and the devastating stampedes are well-documented.
As the Hajj was supposed to be an equaliser of people, it seems the commercialisation has begun to chip away at the underlying ethos.
'have a choice...from which to choose' - should be 'the royal and rich have a choice of the world’s top hotel brands.'
'imperious' - can a view be 'arrogant and domineering' (OED)? 'Impressive' would be better.
'Along with the men’s Irham garments,the rituals that are performed during the Hajj haven’t changed over the centuries' - 'Like the men's Irham garments, the rituals...' would be better.
'the structured routine first established by the Prophet Mohammed in 632 CE. It was his first and only pilgrimage.' - 'in what was his first...'
'Abraham had sent his Egyptian slave, Hagar, into the desert with their infant son, Ishmael.' - slave and lover/wife, surely?
'when Abraham sent...Hagar ran' (change tense to make it flow more easily and keep in with the rest of the narrative)
'some might climb up the rocky hillside, while others remain on the plain' - 'some climb'
'to sleep overnight.' - lose 'overnight'
'most of it had to be destroyed by burning or burying it' - 'by burning or burial'
I'm so pleased to see that some of the sacrificed animals go to feed those who need the meat most.
Love the last line!
Thanks for sharing.
Lorraine