A pilgrim's progress
Friday, 11 September 2009
Mostagousul Haque
IT was a dilemma whether or not to act on the news alert on swine flu outbreak. I was not sure whether it is a real danger or a mere hype created by certain quarters.
Precautions like the security alert, ubiquitous sanitisers, putting your finger on the biometric device as you enter your workplace, sanitising on touching an escalator, wearing masks in a market are quite common these days. But what precaution can be taken when a pharmaceutical company sells dubious medicines and vaccines to maximise profit.
Imagine, the world's biggest drug company - Pfizer paying a staggering fine of $2.3 billion for selling unapproved drugs. It was the largest civil fraud settlement in history against a pharmaceutical company.
It was in this backdrop that I, along with the members of my family, decided perform Umrah. Umrah in Ramadan is equated with the credit of one Hajj, so we proceeded with pilgrim -- chanting, with "Labbaik Allahummah Labbaik" -- I am here, O Allah! I am here. We did not forget to take extra facemasks and a bottle of sanitiser as directed by the Ministry of Health. It took us approximately 45 minutes to reach the city from the airport, a distance of around 80 km. After reaching the parking lot outside the Makkah, we boarded a bus for another four to five minutes' journey.
As we stepped out of the bus people were pulling in the facemasks. The temperature on the first day of September was 40 degrees. And with the masks on, it was even warmer. Like us, many others were wearing masks. But a majority of the pilgrims were not bothered. In the name of Allah, to His house they arrived to perform Umrah and to seek His forgiveness and mercy -unto His refuge. We did not find many people sneezing or coughing but with dry mouths they were rushing to have cold Zamzam water to cool off. It is estimated that 2.0 million pilgrims can gather here. There is a ceiling fan every 10 square meters. A big fan hangs from each column to comfort the pilgrims. A huge portion of the Haram Sharif is fully air-conditioned.
The huge Masjid-al-Haram is surrounded by mountains. Expansion proves a herculean task to increase space, every year for an increasing number of pilgrims. Accommodation is the biggest issue. People say that the authorities could develop all these facilities long ago.
This could make accommodation comfortable and affordable for all pilgrims rich and poor, coming year round, from all over the world. A fast train could facilitate transportation to all the pilgrims between Jeddah, Taif and Medina. A circular train could make the movement quick and easy from and around the Haram.
This Haram provided sustenance for Makkan pagans and Makkan Saudis. Annual pilgrimage was there even before the birth of Islam. Emperor Abraha tried in rain to destroy Kaaba to divert the annual pilgrimage to Yemen.
The number of Bangladeshi pilgrims are on the rise. Millions of Bangladeshis who live and work there send home a part of their earning. Due to unjust treatment by the employers many workers have lost their jobs.
Though a small amount to buy mosquito nets would save millions of Africans from malaria or other mosquito carried diseases, the world remains indifferent. But billions of dollar have been spent on hyped fear, filtered into people's psyche. Ambiguity and hypocrisy have engulfed us all. We ignore the fundamentals of needs of the poor. Busy with non-serious issues, we ignore the core problems. During Ramadan, feast like iftar is taken by the privileged when people beg to survive. To be a good Muslim one needs to follow the basic teachings of Islam. Ambiguity has no room there. When I last performed hajj, hundreds of people died just behind me within few minutes, just because the guards were not there at the entry points.
Today's humanists ask the hungry to go on hunger strike, the penurious to protest income taxes and the like, to protest profiteering and injustice of the society often in violent terms. Arundhuti Roy describes it profusely, "Is it that we have lost our acumen to make a human society where we all can live with the God-given wealth shared to live a human life or should we succumb to the profiteering corporate culture and their economic and political doctrines?"
How much of the many years of my own pilgrimage and prayers, has made me selfless, took me closer to my Creator and His creatures? How much of my wealth am I willing to share, a fraction of it - I doubt! Well, perhaps many of us visit these holy places and decry the same without strengthening our faith (Imaan). O the Omnipotent! Guide us all!
The writer, who lives in Jeddah, can be contacted at haquetm83@yahoo.com
IT was a dilemma whether or not to act on the news alert on swine flu outbreak. I was not sure whether it is a real danger or a mere hype created by certain quarters.
Precautions like the security alert, ubiquitous sanitisers, putting your finger on the biometric device as you enter your workplace, sanitising on touching an escalator, wearing masks in a market are quite common these days. But what precaution can be taken when a pharmaceutical company sells dubious medicines and vaccines to maximise profit.
Imagine, the world's biggest drug company - Pfizer paying a staggering fine of $2.3 billion for selling unapproved drugs. It was the largest civil fraud settlement in history against a pharmaceutical company.
It was in this backdrop that I, along with the members of my family, decided perform Umrah. Umrah in Ramadan is equated with the credit of one Hajj, so we proceeded with pilgrim -- chanting, with "Labbaik Allahummah Labbaik" -- I am here, O Allah! I am here. We did not forget to take extra facemasks and a bottle of sanitiser as directed by the Ministry of Health. It took us approximately 45 minutes to reach the city from the airport, a distance of around 80 km. After reaching the parking lot outside the Makkah, we boarded a bus for another four to five minutes' journey.
As we stepped out of the bus people were pulling in the facemasks. The temperature on the first day of September was 40 degrees. And with the masks on, it was even warmer. Like us, many others were wearing masks. But a majority of the pilgrims were not bothered. In the name of Allah, to His house they arrived to perform Umrah and to seek His forgiveness and mercy -unto His refuge. We did not find many people sneezing or coughing but with dry mouths they were rushing to have cold Zamzam water to cool off. It is estimated that 2.0 million pilgrims can gather here. There is a ceiling fan every 10 square meters. A big fan hangs from each column to comfort the pilgrims. A huge portion of the Haram Sharif is fully air-conditioned.
The huge Masjid-al-Haram is surrounded by mountains. Expansion proves a herculean task to increase space, every year for an increasing number of pilgrims. Accommodation is the biggest issue. People say that the authorities could develop all these facilities long ago.
This could make accommodation comfortable and affordable for all pilgrims rich and poor, coming year round, from all over the world. A fast train could facilitate transportation to all the pilgrims between Jeddah, Taif and Medina. A circular train could make the movement quick and easy from and around the Haram.
This Haram provided sustenance for Makkan pagans and Makkan Saudis. Annual pilgrimage was there even before the birth of Islam. Emperor Abraha tried in rain to destroy Kaaba to divert the annual pilgrimage to Yemen.
The number of Bangladeshi pilgrims are on the rise. Millions of Bangladeshis who live and work there send home a part of their earning. Due to unjust treatment by the employers many workers have lost their jobs.
Though a small amount to buy mosquito nets would save millions of Africans from malaria or other mosquito carried diseases, the world remains indifferent. But billions of dollar have been spent on hyped fear, filtered into people's psyche. Ambiguity and hypocrisy have engulfed us all. We ignore the fundamentals of needs of the poor. Busy with non-serious issues, we ignore the core problems. During Ramadan, feast like iftar is taken by the privileged when people beg to survive. To be a good Muslim one needs to follow the basic teachings of Islam. Ambiguity has no room there. When I last performed hajj, hundreds of people died just behind me within few minutes, just because the guards were not there at the entry points.
Today's humanists ask the hungry to go on hunger strike, the penurious to protest income taxes and the like, to protest profiteering and injustice of the society often in violent terms. Arundhuti Roy describes it profusely, "Is it that we have lost our acumen to make a human society where we all can live with the God-given wealth shared to live a human life or should we succumb to the profiteering corporate culture and their economic and political doctrines?"
How much of the many years of my own pilgrimage and prayers, has made me selfless, took me closer to my Creator and His creatures? How much of my wealth am I willing to share, a fraction of it - I doubt! Well, perhaps many of us visit these holy places and decry the same without strengthening our faith (Imaan). O the Omnipotent! Guide us all!
The writer, who lives in Jeddah, can be contacted at haquetm83@yahoo.com