sunset over makkah on our last night here before we leave for mina. we put on the ihram, which are 2 sheets that all muslim males must wear to stand as equals in the eyes of allah. it signifies that wealth or status doesn't mean anything when we stand before allah. added to this is the fact that when muslims die, all they wear in the grave are 2 sheets. this moment serves as a reminder that life on this earth is temporary while life in the hereafter is forever.
we have just completed the tawaaf (going around the holy kaaba 7 times) necessary before hajj and sa'ee (running between the hills of safa and marwah) emulating what abraham's wife, hagar did as she searched and prayed for water for her son ishmael (peace & blessings on them all). finally water gushed forth from where she had placed ishmael, between the 2 hills. this water flows from the well to this day and is called zamzam water. tawaaf and sa'ee are 2 of the acts that are required for umrah ('the little hajj'), which can be performed at any time of the year except the 5 days of hajj itself (8th dhul-hijjah to 13th dhul-hijjah).
the area around the mosque is undergoing modernisation. the 2 largest buildings in the picture are part of the king's endowment project, which people can own as timeshare apartments. next to it is the makkah towers hotel and shopping complex. within the next few years, the rest of the surrounding area around the mosque will have a modern look and feel about it too.
a chinook helicopter belonging to saudi authorities flies near the great mosque in makkah (in between the 2 minarets). looked like it was transporting teams of helpers. there are going to be an additional 2,400 voluntary helpers for hajis from boy scout groups, schools, universities and hospitals from all over the kingdom (as well as officials) helping hajis throughout their stay in mina, arafat and muzdalifah during the days of hajj.
this is the scene at 5:20am, before fajr azaan (call to prayer). the guards were literally turning people away at the door because there's no room at all inside, meaning the great mosque has reached full capacity. that's 4 floors, including stairwells and landings and the basement. this time the saffs (rows) have reached the lobby of our hotel. wow!
we noticed larger than normal birds flying over the great mosque in the last week just before prayer times, usually in groups of 5 or so (but never over the holy kaaba, in fact strangely no bird ever flies over it, always around...). they look and sound distinctly like eagles and always home back to the royal palace. i'm not sure how clear they appear in the picture but today just before maghrib, we saw 19 (yes, nineteen!) we believe they belong to the palace but who knows?
this is the sun at its highest point. people are reluctant to pray on the roof at this time and with good reason. it's about 35 degrees celsius. as a result, many people pray on the landings and stairwells of escalators of the great mosque. even more choose to pray outside. the crowd outside have made rows in such a way that if it continued for 5 more rows, i could pray in the lobby of our hotel and still be considered as praying with jamaat (i.e. in the congregation behind the imaam of the great mosque). midday prayer has not started yet, i'm sure by the time it does, that will be the case.
our hajj will inshallah be an akbari hajj. we move to mina on wednesday night in preparation for the first day. weather forecasters are predicting severe rain before, during and after hajj. that whole valley is prone to flooding so saudi authorities are preparing teams for it. also, there is extension work still going on at the jamraat bridge, where ritual stoning of the shayateen takes place. it symbolises 3 places where satan appeared before prophet ibrahim - or abraham (peace & blessings be upon him). work being done is to accomodate the crowds. this is part of the reason why saudi authorities have been reluctant to grant hajj visas and the amount of people here generally is less than in previous years.
"by monday night 1,039,963 pilgrims had arrived in the holy cities from abroad, with their number increasing in thousands by the hour" (source: arab news). we find out tonight when hajj will begin. if the new moon is sighted, islamic month of dhul-hijjah begins tomorrow, hajj starts next thursday 8th dhul-hijjah and the day of arafat will be next friday 9th dhul-hijjah, what's termed 'akbari' or 'great' hajj because it falls on friday and because the prophet's hajj (peace & blessings be upon him), which was his first and last hajj, was similar in that the day of arafat fell on friday too.
the sky during another arabian sunset...
the general public outside the mosque... and it's not even prayer time yet!
