(Editor’s Note: The following is an account written by an Islamic woman of what it is like to participate in the annual
Haj Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This article is published as this year’s Haj is about to begin.)
DIARY OF THE HAJ
By AESHA LORENZ AL-SAEED
TUESDAY APRIL 15, 1997
We call the family to let them know we are on our way to Mecca. We make our ablution and intention prayer and then put
on our ihram clothes. Males must wear a simple, unsewn white garment. This is usually of 2 towel-like cloths, so as not
to be transparent or too thin. I have a simple white gown with a white headcover.
We have arrived in Mecca after driving from Jeddah. We packed everything we needed, as for camping. My husband looks
just like one of the crowd from the back in his identical white two piece garment. Of course that is the aim- to have
everyone look equal in the eyes of one another-irrespective of nationality, color and family standing. Only the goodness
of the heart or the piousness sets one above another in real Islam.
Everyone around me looks alike and is a fellow brother or sister in Islam. It's really heartwarming to be surrounded
only by Muslims everywhere we look. The women look fresh in their crisp white hijabs (headcovers) and loose flowing
gowns that don't describe the shape of the body. How grateful I am to be one of those Allah chose to let be Muslim!
The Haram Mosque in Mecca is filled with worshippers. Its splendour is awesome. The pillars-white, majestic and
artistically enchanting. It charms me so much that the tears flow from my eyes. "Labbaik Allah.Laka Labbaik." (We're
here for You Allah, because of You, ready to serve You.) the prayer for Haj begins with. I can't even see the black & gold thread enshrouded ka'aba from where we are for all the people, but I know it's there. The thought of Prophet (our
father) Abraham putting the stones with his son Ishmael for the first temple to the One God gives me gooseflesh thinking
of it. Here we are standing next to historical footsteps.
As we make tawaf around the Ka'aba, we praised, prayed, and remembered all Allah's wonderful qualities and favours to
us. He has 99 names that we lowly humans know of, and His magnificence is awe-inspiring.
Some vigorous people push and try to get between us, but it would be foolhardy to be separated in this crowd of more
that 2 million. I plant my arms firmly around my husband's waist, and continue thinking of our submission to The One,
The Almighty.
We make our sa'ie (walking) between the hills of Safa and Marwa upstairs where the kind Saudi King had made a second
floor to the mosque to ease crowding.
It is easier to maneuver, and we complete the seven times in ease. I remember Hagar, Prophet Abraham's second wife, the
mother of Ishmael as she and her son were first taken to the wasteland of this ancient desert by Abraham. I feel
privileged to imitate her and follow the same path that she took running, desperately looking for water in this area
which was once dry wasteland. Poor Hagar. How merciful Allah was and is. How grateful she must have been to Him when the
water of Zamzam sprouted up under little Ishmael's kicking heels! How wonderful to quench one's thirst from this special
water, with mineral's specially designed for dehydration.
EVENING
We've left Mecca after eating sandwiches of shawarma (meat or chicken pieces with garlic mayonnaise and pickles.) Now we
are in Mina finally. The traffic is quite bad and held up in some places for hours. We read, chat, and make du'a
(supplication) while we wait in the car. In Mina, we look for a place to park and "camp." It's really crowded.
Everywhere we look there are tents. Many are companies that rent them.
Up and down the road we see grey smoke pouring from the sky. We hope and pray that it's not a big one. Tent fires can be
so horrible, and usually start when one doesn't follow the proper regulations about not cooking in the tents. Traffic is
routed away from the fire. Oh Allah! Please help those people so no one is injured!
WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 16
My husband went to buy a block of ice for the thermal chest. I wonder how he will manage with carrying the ice block,
but at least he will be cool!
When he returns we have cool drinks and head out towards Arafat. After awhile we discover a nice place to pull over. God
is generous. We are next to some Philipine muslims who also speak English. We share some food with them. Our young son
keeps them amused with his antics. We read Qur'an, our prayer book, and make du'a. On the day of Arafat the heavens are
especially open to answer prayers due to many many people supplicating and fasting, begging and praising Allah. Group
prayer is so important. How I wish all the world would feel the power of group prayer the One God of the universe!
I pray for my ancestors that Allah has mercy on them. I pray for my offspring to keep away from sins and bad companions,
and for my parents to increase their inclination towards Islam. We also pray for the Palestinians, Bosnians, Kashmiris
and Chechans. Anywhere there are oppressed Muslims. I even pray for the poor victim animals in the science laboratories
that computers will take over more testing so they don't have to suffer so.
SUNSET WEDNESDAY
We leave Arafat to go to Muzdalifa. We are stuck in traffic for hours. We crawl along at a snail's pace read hadith out
loud so we make use of the time.
By the time we arrive in Muzdalifa it is almost 10:00 at night. We pray, look for our pebbles to stone the "devils"(
Jamarat pillars) and then return to the truck. Traffic isn't moving AT ALL. Tour buses fill almost every space. Finally
about midnight the traffic starts moving.
By the time we are able to return to Mina and find a place to park it is almost 2 am. My poor husband is so exhausted he
doesn't even get out from behind the wheel. He falls asleep right where he has been sitting! I throw a couple of
sleeping bags over a carpet that we put next to the car, and the rest of us flop down.
THURSDAY APRIL 17
We set up camp with sheets attached to the truck and a couple of metal poles. We have a child's potty-chair that we set
inside the truck so we don't have to make the long treck to the crowded public bathrooms. Yousef (Joseph in English)
walks to buy another block of ice, and returns gallantly carrying it on his back, with juices in a bag, bless his heart.
He walked to the Jamarat pillars and threw for us also, so we wouldn't have to brave the huge crowds.
I could see from where we were parked that the place was packed with people. The crowds would have been unbearable.
I cooked on the little gas burner in the open air, NOT in the tent. Rice and stew from a can served over it. Fruit for
desert. It's hot, but thank God He sent us a breeze which blows through the sheet tent. It's actually cooler than a real
tent might have been.
Some "neighbors" come and park next to us. We find out that they are from Egypt. My children trade them some fresh fruit
for some more bread for sandwiches. They are most polite and kind.
FRIDAY NOON APRIL 18
We all went today to throw at the Jamarat. It wasn't as crowded today, as some people already finished their throwing
and returned back to Mecca. We see many thongs and rubber sandals that have dropped off people's feet in the crowds, or
were broken and lost. I'm relieved we brought while umbrellas. The sun can be brutal sometimes. Wide straw hats would
have been so nice, and no need to hold onto them.
We throw our seven pebbles at each pillar with vim and vigor, imagining we are hitting the devil each time. It feels
good!
EVENING APRIL 18
After a dinner of halal (Islamically slaughtered) hotdogs and fruit, I read them Islamic stories and hadith.(tales of
what the prophet Muhammed said and did.) Tomorrow we make the last Jumarat throwing and them return back to Mecca also.
SATURDAY EVENING APRIL 19
We're back in Mecca at last. The gigantic Haram Mosque is more crowded than before! It has piles of bags of clothing
around the doorways as people go down to the showers to wash after sleeping outdoors for several nights. As we enter the
Haram we stash our own bags with sandals and clothes in it near a certain door.
We make tawaf around the Ka'aba from upstairs. It takes twice as long, but we don't mind, as we are able to finish in an
unhurried, relaxed manner. We read our prayers as we go around, and add our own, pouring our hearts to Allah, creator of
heavens and earth. We have a break for the magrib (sunset) prayer. It is exciting and wonderful to pray with so many
other Muslims.
We resume our tawaf again, and finish after isha (night) prayer. We are filled with a good, new, fresh feeling. I hope
Allah has accepted our Haj and those of other sincere muslims, and may He increase us in good deeds and faith. We return
to Jeddah feeling content and peaceful.
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Copyright Jan. 2003 by AESHA LORENZ AL-SAEED
MAY BE REPPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR
Write to eyes_lorenz@poetic.com