this is the big jamraat, known as 'jamraat aqaba' (the big devil). no, it's not the guy in front of me! it's the wall at the back of the picture.
unfortunately due to accidents in previous years the pelting of it gets into the news for all the wrong reasons.
alhamdulillah, the situation this year is much improved. the saudi authorities have created more entrances and exits to the general jamraat area to divide up the flows of people. there are guards outside directing the public. if you're carrying luggage (as a lot of people do because they go straight on to makkah) they pull you out of the crowd and direct you to a place it can be stored. it's apparently people taking luggage into the crowd that have caused accidents in recent years. in addition, they have guards stationed at posts inside and guards on foot in the crowd to ensure there's no pushing, another factor which leads to accidents.
added to this, they've distributed safety leaflets available in different languages and put up safety posters in all hotels. it's made a huge difference. however, it's the 'push and shove' mentality of a minority that now needs to be tackled.
this is the middle jamraat being pelted with stones.
here's a little bit of history behind the hajj ritual of pelting the 3 jamraat (devils/satan) with stones.
abraham, or ibrahim as he is known in islam, had a son called ishmael who he loved dearly. allah decided to test him, to see who he loved the most, and sent him a command that he should sacrifice his son for allah.
this pained ibrahim but nevertheless he set about doing what his lord had told him to do. on his way to the place of sacrifice, satan appeared before him three times in three places, each time trying to persuade ibrahim to do something other than what allah had said, each time being more and more persuasive. these places are represented by the 3 pillars.
eventually, ibrahim got to the place of sacrifice and was getting ready to sacrifice his son, when allah explained to ibrahim that it was a test and that he'd passed it. allah sent a ram, which ibrahim was told to sacrifice in place of his son. this is also why we celebrate eid-ul-adha with a sacrifice.
in this way, you'll realise that a lot of hajj rituals are to do with prophet ibrahim (peace & blessings be upon him).
one of the tunnels on our way back to makkah from the jamraat. above it is a popular dua (supplication) to allah written in arabic.
we're back in mina now. we got here shortly after 12pm after having been in what's the longest traffic jam that i've ever been in (10 hours, and that's only cos we had an aggressive driver). trust me, the a406 ain't got nothing on this!
we left for mina again quite late last night, at around 1:30am. first of all it took us ages finding a bus or minibus to seat us all. a lot of drivers just said 'no' to going mina and drove off. we wondered why cos at most the journey takes 30 minutes.
or at least it should take 30 minutes. we found a bus at 2:30am and have been trying to get to mina since. it's just gone past 8:50am as i write this and we're still on our way there. it has been standstill traffic pretty much all the way!
now we know why drivers were reluctant to take us. anyways, once we get there, today (day 4), the only thing that needs to be done is 'ramee' (pelting all 3, small, middle and large satans). the time for pelting begins at zawal (when sun reaches highest point) and ends at sunrise tomorrow morning.
having been at a busy time yesterday we will most probably go at a quieter time today, but only after we get to mina and rest a little. after ramee, we will spend the night in mina in preparation for day 5 tomorrow.
this is the roof of the great mosque when we did our tawaaf-e-ziyaarah. it seems relatively quiet but this is at 12:45am and the reason people are doing their tawaafs on the roof is because both the ground floor and middle floor are rammed to the rafters!
we head back to mina soon. have to be there before fajr which is at about 5:30am.
haven't sat down to rest for more than 20 minutes at a time today and been on the go since 4am this morning. feels good to be back in normal clothes though. now we can dress appropriately to the weather. i'm afraid to sleep in case i can't get up! it's exhausting but i guess i was warned: hajj is no holiday!
this is the sea of people making it back to makkah from the jamraat taken earlier today. although the jamraat facility is much improved, we still experienced a problem with the crowd. the guys in our group (those that hadn't gone missing in action) all formed a circle around the women and took them to the pillar to throw our 7 stones each. we succeeded but were pelted with stones and elbows ourselves.
anyways we're all safe. 4 of us guys then went to the slaughterhouse and got 2 cows and 12 goats sacrificed. i did 4 goats myself alhamdulillah!
2 of us were also in the compound when 4 camels were slaughtered. they went into a frenzy gushing blood from their necks running all over the place (sorry for the detail but it was surreal cos we had to run for cover!)
believe it or not i'm blogging this from on the back of a pickup truck going from the slaughterhouse back to makkah.
so much to do still...
this is muzdalifah. we spent the night there last night as it is 'wajib' (necessary) to do so.
we left muzdalifah for mina after fajr, way after fajr, as the scramble for the coaches was so mad.
soon, we will proceed to jamraat for the stoning of 'jamraat aqaba' (the big satan) after which we will return to makkah on foot. once there the males will go to the slaughterhouse to perform 'qurbani' (sacrifice) after which the males shave their heads (no, not at the slaughterhouse, at the barbers!) and the women cut a bit of their hair. this is when we enter the 1st stage of exiting ihram, which means we can go back to wearing normal clothes.
we will then proceed to the great mosque and perform 'tawaaf-e-ziyaarah' (circling the holy kaaba 7 times as part of the hajj). later tonight we will return to mina and spend the night here.
today, in the muslim world, it is 'eid-ul-adha' (the feast of the sacrifice) so eid mubarak everyone!
we have just finished our stay in arafat (which is twenty square kilometers big), making dua and praying, having completed one of the farz (compulsory) obligations of hajj. it is now past sunset but we don't pray maghrib (sunset prayer) in arafat. we have to combine maghrib and isha (night prayers together when we get to muzdalifah. we are on our way there now.
we spend the night in muzdalifah under the stars (no tent), braving the weather which will be cold, until after fajr (morning prayer) when we go back to mina (tent city).
saudi sources say close to three million people are taking part in this akbari hajj. may allah accept each and every one. ameen.
it's just after fajr in mina. we spent the night here. it's very cold. we're not allowed to wear anything additional to the ihram but can wrap ourselves in a blanket, but that restricts movement so most of us just make do without for now. we're due to leave mina for arafat soon where we will pray zuhr and asr. then at maghrib time we will leave arafat for muzdalifah where we'll combine maghrib and isha prayers together.
today is the day of arafat, a day of asking for forgiveness for one's sins. it's said satan doesn't feel as bad as he does on any other day of the year because god forgives all kinds of sins to those who ask sincerely.
it already feels like a unifying, refreshing experience and we're only 1 day into it.
sunrise over mina. we were supposed to arrive late last night but due to a few unforeseen circumstances we ended up praying fajr (morning prayer) in makkah and arriving here just after sunrise. it worked out for us though because the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) did the same thing in his hajj so we adhered to his sunnah (his practice). we will inshallah pray zuhr (midday), asr (mid-afternoon), maghrib (sunset), isha (night) prayers and fajr tomorrow morning here before moving to arafat.
