Poor pushed away in Holy Mecca too

I’m much too much gloomy to pen on the subject which, to be honest, struck to me some years back but each and every time I intentionally avoided to discuss the same but ever since the situation is drastically and heavily changing hence I thought it prudent not to defer and or delay it any further.

At the very outset, I must very frankly and openly admit that I have neither an authority nor capacity not only to criticize but also to even raise my eye brows on such a sensitive subject but yet the fact remains that being a Muslim I do enjoy an inborn prerogative to judiciously comment on the situation without any prejudice and or vested interest. As an honest person, I will neither twist nor manipulate the facts rather judiciously discuss the same so that the facts do not lose their originality.  I am not a loud mouth and shun bragging too but yet feel pretty confident that after patiently reading my synopsis under the reference you too will favor me or least tilt towards me rather than opposing tooth and nail or throwing stones or scolding.  Incidentally, I was employed for two years (1976-78) in Saudi Arabia and despite the fact that my employer Fluor (giant US co) had a policy that none can go for Haj unless he has worked at least one year with them but I very stubbornly insisted that though, I have worked just two months, I be either allowed to go for Haj or repatriated back to Pakistan. Next year too I resorted to same pressurized tactics and eventually succeeded that year too and performed my second Haj.

As a Muslim, each and every one of us without any exception whatsoever whether male or female, young or old, white or black, tall or short, married or unmarried, educated or illiterate, rich or poor, governor or governed, employed or unemployed and, the list goes on and on and far too many categories can be added here but the crux is that they all have an inborn wish to go at least once for pilgrimage if not Haj and it is very much true from time immemorial and will be the same till very dooms day. There are some lucky, for quite diversified reasons, who are spread over in each and every continent and have been blessed to the extent that they got the opportune to go for not only performing Haj alone but in addition they did perform also an ordinary pilgrimage (Umra) as well. There are innumerous who were fortunate enough to go at least either for Haj or Umra in their lives. However, it is very painful to mention that there are those as well, who are in bulk majority in any case, that they despite their best efforts, for one reason or the other simply could not go for any sort of pilgrimage throughout their life span. It cannot be explained in either words or phrases or both but felt and understood the inner feelings and plight of those who missed to travel to the holy land.

It is an openly admitted fact that all those who go for pilgrimage to Mecca irrespective of their gender, nationality, age, ethnic background, caste and creed, language, customs and nationality etc want to spend maximum of their time inside the mosque in multiple activities namely offering prayers, both obligatory and extras and or to recite Holy Quran otherwise the very purpose of their pilgrimage is at least dented to a greater extent if not defeated. Moreover, all the visiting pilgrims from any country of the world go to Mecca for a certain specific period of time only which is undoubtedly limited even if some can extend their stay for over many weeks if not days and each day has just 24 hours which can neither be extended nor reduced whatsoever. Having said so, it can very well be appreciated that under the given situation, it is very much demanded of the pilgrims that the said daily stipulated hours of the pilgrims be very intelligently and judiciously utilized to the best advantage of the persons concerned. The minute or the hour lost is lost for any reason and rhyme simply is wasted forever and it can never ever be regained.  It, therefore, quite naturally necessitates that the pilgrims must be very much sharp and pretty intelligent enough to very rightly distribute the said 24 hours over the various actions and activities namely meeting the natural calls, eating, praying and sleeping etc. Quite naturally, offering prayers, listening to religious talks and sermons and reciting Quran gets edge over other activities and actions which too are to be performed and they simply can neither be ignored nor curtailed.

In the past years, say couple of decades ago, there were many cheap hotels and apartments near to the Kaaba where ordinary foreign pilgrims could easily and comfortably afford to pay less but yet stay at walking distance from the Kaaba but alas the ground reality has so much changed that at this point of time there are no more those cheaper accommodations simply because expensive hotels and luxurious residential complexes have completely run them over. Now palatial hotels and majestic residential complexes, for that matter, rightly termed as skyscrapers which have sprung all over the places adjacent to the holy mosque can rightly boast of in direct and head on competition with such like constructions in Washington DC, London and Paris. Anyone interested to dig much deeper on the issue is not supposed to travel all the way to the holy place but instead the aspirant is just to visit some of the web sites to know him or herself as to what is being constructed at different stages even at this point of time despite the fact that much has already been constructed. Far too many civil construction jobs, of course, varying in size, location and value have already been taken into hand and passing through different stages right from drawing boards to architectural designing and surveying etc. The pomp and show, grandeur and loftiness presented by such like sky rocketing priced constructions is beyond imagination and it be very much multiplied instead of being curtailed in the years to come. Something which could not be even thought of earlier has tuned into undisputed reality. The one like me who performed Haj or Umra during late 1970s will be taken aback to see so much phenomenal changes and he or she may not even believe if it is the same place where once he or she has performed a pilgrimage.

Reverting back to the caption itself I need not explain as to how an ordinary pilgrim has been affected or, more correctly, deprived of just because of these astronomical constructions. The poor foreign pilgrim who is undoubtedly already very much short on purse is now pushed off to the distant way hotels and apartments to live on during the pilgrimage which is inflicting deep wound of a double edged sword. The one who could earlier live near to the mosque is now obliged to run off to far flung areas in the suburbs of the holy place simply because the nearby places to the holy mosque are far too expensive and certainly beyond the reach of an average common visitor and I have no hesitation to pen that it is very much doubtful if at all he or she can afford to stay even for a day near to the mosque what to talk of whole pilgrimage. Under the given pathetic situation, the marooned has no choice but to live at the place which is affordable though miles away from the place he or she wished to live while he or she thought of back home. The distance between the residence and the holy mosque is so much that the pilgrim cannot walk all the way unless he or she wants to spend all the precious time on covering the distance at the cost of offering prayers. The answer to the problem is that he or she uses a transport to and fro which not only time consuming but money is spending as well.  The time, which is already scared and cannot be increased either, so spent on transportation snatched away proportionately the opportune to offer prayers in the holy mosque which, as a matter of fact, had been the magnetic and instrumental factor for the visitor to come from each and every continent to perform one of the the most sacred duty as has been ordained by Allah.

Had sky been split apart if the cheaper accommodations were continued to be near the holy mosque and such like expensive constructions had been done at the far flung areas in the suburbs instead? Had oceans dried off if the bulk majority of poor had been taken care of instead of just a few rich ones? The sun had not risen from west either if the interest of majority has been kept in mind as against a handful rich, I can say on my honor. Needless to mention but for further clarity let me say it very loudly and quite emphatically that the residents of expensive hotels and apartments have the capacity to pay for even exclusive transportation, what to talk of shared one, but the undisputed fact has been completely and totally ignored for the reasons best known to those responsible officials only. I wonder less and ponder more as to what could be the logical rationale to trouble the bulk majority of people as against just a handful of rich ones.

The poor and unlucky foreign visiting pilgrims irrespective of the country they come from are not only dishing out considerable money on transportation but also enduring the troubles of waiting etc and culminating in getting less time to be in the mosque which is very much lamentable but the done is done and cannot be undone which in other words eventually proved that ‘poor pushed away in holy Mecca too’

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With my honest and solemn prayers