| Haj Reflections: Day Five Siraj Wahab |
| MINA, 12 January 2006 Yesterday we were all in such high spirits as we made preparations to leave the media center by 4 p.m. Many journalists had telephoned their families to advise them that they would be home early. It appeared that the final day of the Haj would proceed without serious incident. It was not to be. Word came in at around 1 p.m. that there was a serious problem at the Jamrat Bridge. We did not hear the wailing of sirens. There was no unusual helicopter activity. We thought it was just another of the many rumors that get
phoned in to us but we went to check it out anyway. Our first destination was the mortuary of Mina General Hospital. The Bangladeshi attendant there advised us that they were holding only one body that had been brought in last night. While we were deciding on our next move, another call came in. The stampede was unfolding in earnest at the entrance to the Jamrat Bridge. We quickly went to the King Khaled Bridge to get an idea of the dimension of the crisis. What we saw horrified us. Security forces were packed tightly together, side by side, creating a large circle to contain the scene of the tragedy. In the midst of the circle, bags, suitcases, prayer mats and collapsed tents were scattered all around. We counted 42 covered bodies on stretchers. Lines upon lines of ambulances were taking away the wounded. Huge refrigerated trucks used as mortuaries were already moving forward and this gave an idea that the
number of casualties would be high. It was so disheartening for such a very successful Haj to be marred by these deaths. Walking back to our tent it made me very upset to see pilgrims still approaching the Jamrat area with bags. Some even had large bundles on their heads or tied on their backs. The pilgrim agencies should be responsible for locking up the baggage in the buses in the morning on the last day. Arrangements should be made to deliver the baggage to the pilgrims in Makkah. Many pilgrims are in a hurry to leave Mina before sunset and so they carry their bags with them to the Jamrat, especially if they are housed in faraway camps. Ignorance is at the foundation of this tragedy. A fatwa was issued stating
that it was acceptable to stone the Jamrat from the morning on the final day. However, many people ignored this fatwa wanting to do the Haj in the traditional manner. They waited near the Jamrat to stone when the sun was past the meridian. As one wave of pilgrims approached they could not move forward due to the squatting pilgrims. The aged and women could not climb over the bags and bundles and they fell. Once the first group fell, others went down behind them. We should not fault all the Haj guides however. Some parts of Mina had a quite deserted look from early in the day. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims left their tents immediately after dawn. In those areas the trash cans were buried under mountains of garbage and bulldozers were already hard at work trying to dump the trash mountains into trucks. The wind rose throughout the day making this
job difficult and blowing trash was everywhere. In general, most of the misfortunes that pilgrims suffer are caused by their own actions. On Wednesday evening, one man was trying to take a photograph of the stoning ritual with his mobile handset. He held the very fancy Nokia phone out over the site to get a clear shot. Seconds after hed raised the handset over the area it was hit by a large stone, which caused him to drop the phone. It fell to the ground and by the time hed recovered it, the phone was completely crushed. A security man seeing the destroyed handset muttered, Jawwal As-Shaytan, in what the man thought was sympathy. Later he learned that that particular Nokia handset is indeed called Jawwal As-Shaytan in Saudi Arabia. Another man came to stone the Jamrat on Wednesday carrying his young son on his shoulders. The man was quite tall and the child perched on his shoulders was even higher up in the air. The man fought his way to the front of the crowd so his boy could get a good view of the proceedings. Almost immediately the child began screaming in pain. The father turned around to spot the problem and it came right toward him. The stones of the shorter pilgrims began hitting him in the face. Security officers quickly came to his aid. There are many people in Jeddah who assist the pilgrims every year. Some people provide assistance in Jeddah itself and others travel to the holy sites as part of groups who offer help during the pilgrimage. This year a Muslim Ekta Samiti group with over 260 volunteers was formed in Jeddah. The
purpose of the committee was to guide lost pilgrims back to their camps in Mina. Dressed in florescent saffron colored jackets, the volunteers stood out in any crowd and people soon learned to turn to them for help. Two of the lead volunteers, Muhammad Iqbal Chemban and Beeran Koyissan stated that they were happy to be working with the group since they have nothing else of importance to do during the Haj holiday. Chemban was a pilgrim last year and he was genuinely moved by the plight of the lost, confused pilgrims. So many aged pilgrims come for Haj and they need help, he said. I decided to form this committee with a view to lending a hand. The committee had certain problems as it was not sponsored at a governmental level. Eventually the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) agreed to give the group 26 official ID cards for the committees team leaders in Mina. The committee members were divided into teams of 10, working throughout the day and
night. The money for transportation of lost pilgrims and for 11 wheelchairs to move elderly pilgrims swiftly through Mina were donated by the committee members. Chemban estimated that they had assisted over 20,000 pilgrims during the Haj. Due to their language skills they were most often engaged in helping pilgrims from the Subcontinent, but they were willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. They had even returned one elderly Saudi pilgrim to his family who were staying near the mountains around Mina for Haj. This Haj, which was once progressing in such a lighthearted hopeful manner, has ended in a very dark way. The people still at Mina are very nervous. Anxiety is written large on their faces, especially the women. The last time we visited the Jamrat Bridge an elderly man from Kashmir approached us and held our hands. He was very emotional and
said, May God help us and protect everyone. Many pilgrims who had finished the stoning ritual had already moved on to Makkah and will have no idea of the tragedy for some time. Perhaps it is better that God in His mercy will allow them to finish their Haj in peace. |
Source: Arab News
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
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