Shadiah Abdullah Saudi Gazette MAKKAH — The Qur'an says: “And proclaim unto mankind the Pilgrimage. They will come unto thee on foot and on every lean camel...from every deep ravine.” The Friday prayers at the Haram Grand Mosque during Haj is a sight to behold and a confirmation of this verse. The expression, “a sea of humanity”, takes a literal meaning, for Makkah is awash in a sea of people; black people, brown people, white people, every kind of people from every deep ravine as described in the Qur'an. The crowds of pilgrims and inhabitants of the city start filling up the Haram from early morning. Hours before the prayers, the three floors of the mosque were filled and security stopped the swelling crowds from entering. Our hotel is considered part of the Haram and they had a special prayer area that overlooked the mosque's courtyard. I did not want to pray in the hotel so I went downstairs thinking I could find space in the courtyard outside. However, I found even the doorsteps of the hotel was packed with people. It was an amazing sight to behold, everywhere I looked were all kinds of people, even the bridge and roads leading to the Haram were filled with the faithful. I ended up listening to the sermon sitting on a mat on the hotel's doorstep and enjoyed the sound of the “Amen” reverberating around us. It took nearly two hours for the area surrounding the Haram to clear up and there were no vehicles in sight except for a lone ambulance that was stuck in the crowd. I just sat there watching this spectacle and later on slowly hobbled to the mosque. In my excitement to do as many acts of worship as possible, I had ended up overexerting myself by doing two tawafs (circumambulating the Ka'aba seven times), one of which I did on the roof of the mosque and it took me nearly two hours to complete. The tawaf is not just a simple circling of the Ka'aba; the challenge arises from doing it alongside tens of thousands of other pilgrims. Trying to move in such huge crowds is overwhelming and claustrophobic. People inadvertently step on your feet, you get pushed and elbowed, it is a physically arduous exercise, and Lord help those who are not fit! The first time I tried to do the tawaf next to the Ka'aba, the crowds were overwhelming. But one of the miracles of being in such holy places is that God, in His infinite mercy, gives you the strength. So I stepped in this vortex of humanity and tried my best to focus on being calm and concentrate on my prayers. All around me people were in different states of prayers, some were quietly whispering their prayers, others in a loud voice, some were walking sobbing quietly, and others were blowing kisses to the Black Stone; it was an exhilarating experience to watch humanity humbled. Of course, there was pushing from all sides, people walked over my toes, I got hit by elbows, and so on. I nearly lost my temper but remembered to keep my calm as I was sharing this space with thousands. It was one of the lessons that I had to learn during this journey, to remain patient in any situation. After I finished, I was exhausted and the fact that I, a young woman, was bone-tired after only a couple of days of worship made me wonder where the elderly people got their energy from? It is only through barakah (blessings) that such old people could undertake this physical hardship. And Haj is full of old people, some shriveled and bent with age, but you still see them walking around with so much energy and the expression of joy on their faces. This made me feel very ashamed of complaining about a few aching joints.
