The world flocks to Makkah

THE work space provided for the media embedded with the Tabung Haji team in Makkah has a countdown calendar that indicates there’s 21 days left to Wuquf. All activities performed by the more than 10,000 Malaysian pilgrims already gathered here in Makkah serve as a prelude to this great gathering of humanity that is scheduled for 10 Zulhijjah (15 October). (A little over 10,000 more Malaysian pilgrims are making – or soon will be – making their way here to Makkah, bringing the total number of Malaysian pilgrims to just over 20,000).

As the day draws ever nearer, Makkah is receiving more pilgrims by the minute, if not the hour. All haj flights from Malaysia now land at Jeddah Airport from where the pilgrims are bussed straight on to Makkah, instead of Madinah, as they were, for the previous 37 flights from Malaysia.

This is my third week in this blessed land. With each passing day, the crowd making their way to Masjidil Haram each time in answer to the call to prayer grows in ever increasing numbers. If you think downtown Puduraya on a Hari Raya Weekend (when all the locals desert the city to balik kampong) is crowded as is some magnet to humanity, come to Makkah where it is just that, and magnified many many many times more!

For Malaysian pilgrims, all 37 flights that left Malaysia until 21 September brought them first to Madinah where they spent a minimum of eight days in the city that is also known and the Prophet’s City. This is where the Prophet Mohamad (peace be upon him) emigrated from Makkah that signaled the start of the Muslim Hijrah (migration) calendar. For the uninitiated, the Muslim calendar refers to this migration as year one – an event that actually took place in the year 622 AD. This year’s haj therefore falls on 1434 Hijrah – which means it has been 1434 years since the prophet embarked on his momentuous journey from Makkah to Madinah.

MORE THAN TOURISM ON THE MIND

Mobilising such a wave of humanity – it is expected that up to three million if not more, pilgrims will converge on Makkah this year – is an exercise that would test even the best travel agent. But the pilgrimage is not a tourism trip. It is in actual fact that – and a lot more! It combines elements of travel to sop up history, culture and traditions with the further element of emulating the act of devotion and worship.

In Prophet Mohamad (peace be upon him) Muslims see the perfect personification for emulation. The hadith (his acts, deeds and utterances) are passed on by narrators who reported on Prophet Mohammad’s precise actions that have been passed on and adhered to right to this very day. This includes how the prophet observed prayer rituals, ate, drank, slept and even dressed.

While Mekah and Madinah revels under the spotlight, the fireworks burned bright over the streets of Riyadh. Monday was Saudi Arabia national day. The Saudis did not need to shed blood to fight for independence. Their modern history began with the unification of the entire nation.

ITS ALL IN THE FABRIC

So what of modern day Saudi Arabia. Having spent just up to four hours in Jeddah before setting off for Madinah, 400 over km northwards, and travelling at night too, gives me no authority to pass any judgment on the state of its highways, let alone the nature of the fabric of its society.

What I can tell you is that fabric – literally, is important. I scanned the local newspaper and learnt that one current concern is the rise in price of the shemagh. This is the two-meter square patterned cloth that is folded diagonally in half and used as headgear. When referred to as kiffeyeh, the most famous head it rested on was that of Yasser Arafat!

The Palestinian signature was the black and white chequerboard pattern. The Saudis on the other hand have somehow adopted the red and white pattern, which makes it useful to spot a fellow national from amongst the crowd.

Why is this important? A letter written by a Saudi doctor caught in a crush at the Jeddah airport gives a salutary lesson in many things Saudi. Not least is the feeling of discomfort among Saudis that their nation is playing host to many illegal aliens. You’d think we left this problem when we boarded the Air Asia A330 (now that’s another story by itself which I might save for later) from KL’s LCCT way back three weeks ago. But no! There are illegal aliens aplenty in Saudi. There come mostly from their less affluent neighbours and more closer to us, from Indonesia and a sprinkling from Thailand, more precisely, Pattani.

Being a muslim country, these migrants were banking on the shared faith expecting the Saudis would welcome them with open arms. That they do, but when there are those who choose to abuse this hospitality by staying illegally, that’s when even empathy, much less sympathy runs out.

Like us, the Saudis have embarked on an exercise to flush out the immigrants, and like us, had the deadline extended. Unlike us, it was extended only once – so come November, those illegal immigrants will face the full brunt of Saudi law.

When it does flush out the illegals Saudi Arabia with its largely affluent population will no doubt have to find enough manpower for jobs that its citizens shun. Those that come and stay under an orderly programme will no doubt find a strong embrace and warm welcome.

Once my all too brief sojourn ends at the end of October, after; God Willing, performing all the rites and rituals of the haj, I might also find the tug of this nation – especially that of Makkah and Madinah, too strong a pull to resist. Maybe then I’d emphatise with those who chose to stay?

RAZAK Chik simply cannot imagine how crowded Makkah will be when all the pilgrims permitted to come and perform the haj this year all converge at Arafat.