By SARAH EL DEEB | AP

Arab News, Nov 15, 2010 16:40

MOUNT ARAFAT: Nearly 3 million Muslims performing the annual Haj pilgrimage in the Kingdom climbed their way up Mount Arafat on Monday, chanting that they have come to answer God’s call.

The white-robed pilgrims began their ascent at the crack of dawn, covering the Mountain of Mercy at Arafat in an endless sea of white as their chants, "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik” (O God, here I am answering Your call), reverberated overhead.

The climb at Arafat is one of the cornerstones of the pilgrimage, which is required from every able-bodied Muslim at least once in their life time. It’s the site where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) delivered his farewell sermon and Muslims believe on this day the doors of heavens open to answer prayers and grant forgiveness.

As they began their climb from the tent-city in the valley of Mina, many of the pilgrims looked tired from lack of sleep, having spent the entire night praying. Charities and vendors along the way handed out food packages and umbrellas to shield the climbers from the harsh sun.

One of the pilgrims, Wassim Ahmad, from Mumbai, India, said this was his first Haj and that he felt like a child, reborn.

“Today is like judgment day,” said the 29-year-old. “We have come to pray to God ... a new child has been born.”

Alone and obviously on her first hajj, 46-year-old Egyptian, Um Sayed, kept asking people for directions.

“There is nothing greater than feeling that you are going to meet God,” she said. “The whole body shivers.”

Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa are the three stops on the pilgrims’ journey during the hajj, as worshippers trace the steps of Prophet Muhammad.

The Hajdraws millions of worshippers each year, the sheer numbers a challenge in preventing stampedes at holy sites, fires in pilgrim encampments and the spread of disease.

This year Saudi authorities have taken new measures to improve crowd management, including launching a new light-rail system to transport pilgrims between the shrines.

By SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS

Arab News, Nov 14, 2010 23:57

It was with a sense of exhilaration that we set off from Jeddah to Mina on Saturday evening. Taking the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway, the trip was rapid.

There were three checkpoints on the highway before we reached Mina. At the first two, the traffic police were interested in the vehicle’s registration and the identity of the driver. But at Al-Shumaisi Checkpoint, the entrance to the holy city, three policemen were stationed at each lane of the highway. Haj permits were demanded and the officers carefully scrutinized the documents. Then the photographs on the permits were checked against the faces of the passengers in the vehicles. This is unusual. During most of the year, in an effort to keep traffic moving freely, the vehicles in just one or two of the six lanes entering city are randomly targeted for such intense checks. But Saturday night was different.

****

While the authorities are to be commended for taking the matter of permits seriously, we noticed on our way to Makkah, at points just before the mountains ringing the city, men in ihram were being dropped off by taxis and were then scurrying out into the desert. Looking out and upward, we saw that these illegal pilgrims had formed a single file dotted white line over the mountains. On the other side of the hills, taxis were waiting to pick them up and take them off to Mina. We stopped and asked one of these men why he was breaking the law. The man, who was from India and who refused to give his name, explained that his parents had come for Haj and it was his filial duty to serve them. He could not get a Haj permit legally, so he felt there was no choice but to go over the mountains — a run that would take him 40 minutes — and he had every hope of outmaneuvering the authorities. The men pay taxi drivers between SR400 and SR500 for this illegal and dangerous transport.

****

When we arrived at Mina, the city was fully lit and already bustling. From photographs, people have the impression that Mina is a city of tents. At night, all aglow, it is apparent that it is a city of lights as well. Saturday night we took our mopeds out for a quick tour. We saw that the crowds had come to a halt to watch nine coaches pass by on the new Mashair Railway.  Pilgrims were gawping and pointing at the train and of course phones were held aloft to take photos. The train station is sure to become a landmark in the city, as Masjid Al-Khaif has been for centuries. With so many similar looking tents, pilgrims have selected certain major locations as meeting points — in case they get lost or separated from their families or groups. Al-Baik broasted chicken shops are popular meeting points as are the Civil Defense stations situated in the middle of Mina’s bridges. Every pilgrim seems to have a mobile phone. If a pilgrim gets lost, he will make his way to the agreed upon meeting point and just call back to his camp for someone to come and guide him back to his tent.

****

On Saturday evening, the weather was bearable with a light breeze blowing. By 8 a.m. yesterday it had become hot and toward midday everyone was roasting. For those not under cover, the sun was miserable and the conditions do not bode well for the standing in Arafat on Monday. Many pilgrims tried to escape the midday heat within Masjid Al-Khaif. Like everything else in Mina, this famous mosque has undergone many changes. There are now several entrances for women and more than 100,000 worshippers can be accommodated within the mosque’s walls for every prayer.

****

In a corner of Masjid Al-Khaif an elderly Afghan pilgrim was seated. We asked Mahmoud Mujaddedi how he had made his way to Mina and he explained that he had come through Pakistan. The aged man expressed his delight at having managed to come on this journey of a lifetime. He planned to stay the entire day at Masjid Al-Khaif, and even showed us some cans of tuna and bread that he had brought along as sustenance. Mujaddedi wasn’t an illegal pilgrim. He had accommodation at Mina and fully catered services. But he eschewed them for the opportunity to spend the entire day at Masjid Al-Khaif, preferring to be where the Prophet and his Companions had prayed centuries ago. Mujaddedi was not worried to be separated from his group. He had his emergency cash stitched in a cloth belt around his waist and tuna for a few days. All he desired was the chance for contemplation and Allah’s mercy and blessings.

****

It is not only within Masjid Al-Khaif that pilgrims have taken to impromptu sit-ins. Despite bans throughout Mina on squatting, the police are having a terrible time keeping pilgrims from gathering under pedestrian bridges. We saw officer Ali Bin-Naghi struggling in vain to move pilgrims from under one such structure. “I came from Riyadh and have been trying to convince people to care for their own safety as well as the safety of others,” said Bin-Naghi. The 15 pilgrims who wouldn’t move were soon joined by a hundred more at the call for Dhuhr prayer. Bin-Naghi could do nothing but watch. “We are Muslims first and last and we can only ask these pilgrims to move on for their own safety,” he said. “We have orders not to push them away physically or to behave angrily with them.”

****

To make it harder to camp in the city, the authorities have forbidden small Chinese-made portable tents. But the pilgrims have replaced these with foldable plastic mattresses. The pilgrims lay them down on the ground under any available shade. These are not illegal pilgrims. The problem is that there are so many elderly pilgrims and pilgrims with families who need to rest. Some pilgrims mentioned that their camps were too far from Masjid Al-Khaif for them to go back and forth for prayers. We saw one couple with a four-year-old son and asked them why they had brought their child to Haj when the authorities had discouraged this. They explained that they had no one to take care of the boy and it was their only chance to make the pilgrimage. The child did not seem unhappy since he was being pushed in a stroller, but the parents were already becoming aware of the difficulties in taking a stroller into the crowds and the boy was too big to carry.

****

We prayed Asr in Masjid Al-Khaif and after exiting were forced to stop when an Indian pilgrim came shouting behind us. His mobile phone’s battery had run out. He wanted us to call his mother-in-law and father-in-law so he could find them. First he couldn’t remember their number. So we switched his SIM card to one of our phones. That didn’t work because he had saved the number in his phone’s memory. None of our batteries would fit into his phone. We couldn’t help him and apologized. We started off for our tent again when suddenly the pilgrim rushed up to us once more, this time shouting numbers. When he had replaced the battery back into the mobile handset, it had come on for a few seconds and he had been able to get the phone number he needed. With no paper and pen at hand he had just memorized the number and was reciting it over and over again so he wouldn’t forget it. We made the call.