Hajj part 3 (EID MUBARAK)

EID Mubarak

On the third day after having traveled from Muzdalifa to Mina the pilgrims make there way to Jamarat at the most western end of Mina. At Jamarat there are the three stone pillars that represent the Devil (Shaytan) who would tempt Prophet Abraham to disobey God and not sacrafice his son. The three pillars represent at each point where the devil tempted him and he was instructed by the Arch-angel Gabriel to stone him seven times. In reverence to this action the pilgrims also stone the pillars. The pillars stand several meters apart approximately a hundred to 200 hundred. The extend high into the sky a bridge was built that extends the distance of the three pillars and allows for pilgrims to stone the devil from atop the bridge or from below the bridge. Before 2004 the pillars were relatively narrow by 2005 the pillars where expanded to large walls for safety reasons. At reaching Jamarat the pilgrims stone Jamarat al-Aqabah (the one closest to Mecca) seven times. Once this is done the pilgrims go the there tents and wait for word that their animal has been sacrificed. The sacrifice is done by all Muslims around the world on this day the Day of Eid Al-Adha to remember the sacrifice Prophet Abraham was willing to make of his son (Ishmael) to God. Only to have Ishmael spared at the last minute and a ram sacrificed in his place. Following the sacrifice the pilgrim shaves his head and he is allowed to come out of ihram. That is most people that take off their two piece of cloth and take a shower and put on there regular clothes. Later that day the pilgrims return to Jamarat. This time starting with Jamarat al-ula (the one furthest from Mecca) they stone it seven times, them Jamarat al-wast is stoned seven times and finally Jamarat al-Aqabah is stoned seven times. After this the pilgrims again head back to the tents and spend the night in Mina.

(click for higher resolution)

It is also worth noting that this is generally the ritual where so many incidents have occured during the hajj. One of the reasons is that almost 3 million people want to perform the same ritual at the same time. One thing that the clergy have done is that they have made fatwas allowing the rituals to be done somewhat staggered so as to reduce the numbers at Jamarat at any one time. Further because of the limited space there is a lot of pushing which causes people to fall and get trampled by the crowds. What the Saudi authorities have done to alleviate this is build the bridge and expanding the size of the pillars. This seems to have greatly reduced the numbers of people hurt during the rituals.

So tomorrow will be the next phase of the Hajj. Eid Mubarak to all.

Hajj part 2

Well on the next step in the Hajj is the stay at the Plains of Arafat. This is were people are to stand during the day. Most people walk around and speak with others or sit in quite place and simply read the Quran. Every year it is at Arafat that the Islamic Republic of Iran makes some statement on the state of affairs in the Muslim world to the consternation of the Saudi authorities. Others will head over to Jabal ar-Rahma (Mountain of Mercy) and make the ascent to reach the pillar that sits atop the mountain. It is called a mountain however it is no more than a small hill. It is believed that it is at this place where and when all the pilgrims sins are forgiven. This is because it is believed that after Prophet Adam and his wife Eve were sent to earth for their disobedience they were separated for 200 years and reunited at the Jabal ar-Rahma.

(Click to see high resolution)

Sometime after night fall the pilgrims begin their journey towards Muzdalifa. The pilgrims are expected to reach Muzdalifa and stay the night there collecting stones (at least 49) for the next day's ceremony of stoning the devil. Most caravans however have their people collect stones before the Hajj starts so that there will be no need to stop in Muzdalifa and simply travel through. The reason is that the trip though short takes many hours because of the many tour buses and people on the same roads. Most people make the majority of the journey on foot. My personal experience was that we walked from just outside of the Plain of Arafat through Muzdalifa and onto Mina through the entire night with nothing more than a 30 minutes rest.

(Click to see high resolution)

Next blog will be about Mina and the day of Eid Al-Adha.

Congratulations Hajj'is

Well Hajj has officially begun. I remember when I went a couple of years ago. All I could think about all day today was all the memories of my experience. Then I thought about the post I did a couple of days ago. So I thought why not give everyone a place where they can experience the Hajj along with the Hajj'is. So here goes: in Saudi Arabia its Friday morning around 5:00 am just before Fajr prayer(Morning prayer). At around there time last night they officially would have been staying in Mina before leaving for Arafat . However, because of the number of people most people running the caravans know the travel takes several hours. So, most people get into ihram (two piece white cloth) and then they simply travel through a part of Mina on there way to Arafat, only maybe pausing to meet the requirement of "staying" in Mina. They usually reach Arafat by morning the next day (that is about this time in Mecca). They will stay in Arafat until after sunset on this day. In Mina for those who actually spend the night, they pray their Maghrib and Isha prayer and the rest of their time they spend in personal supplication. Ok so I will explain what happens at each stage as the time arrives. But I also want to leave you with some pics to be able to visualize some of the ceremonies.

This is a satellite image of the area from the kaaba to Arafat (the entire hajj site). This is thanks to google maps and a little creativity from me:

(Click on the picture to get a high resolution image)

So Masijid Haram is on the left side next to the crossbar. The area boxed in blue is the tent city Mina and the area in yellow is the Plain of Arafat.

Ok coming up in my next post staying at Plain of Arafat and visiting Jabal ar-Rahma.

NBA Highlights

Well the last couple of posts were kind of intense so how about something a little more on the lighter side. Here is a couple of videos of NBA highlights. The second video has some footage of some killer crossovers and has a great eminem song. Well enjoy....

We dont play with "Kafirs"

In the news...

I don't even know if this counts as a news article. I have never heard of this website before but it seems to be some type of news website (http://www.aina.org/). Anyways, there is this article written in what seems to be a cynical attempt at showing Muslims that it is their isolationist philosophies that has lead to the misunderstanding and mistrust among the "civilized world", i.e. Judea-Christian West. Mr. Poole (the articles author) asserts that Christians openly celebrate and encourage others to participate in their religious holidays such as Christmas and Jews similarly do so when they invite non-Jews to participate in Passover seder. Of course he knows this to be prevalent practices because of personal experiences. However, the backwards Muslims are not like these civilized Westerners they wont allow non-Muslims to participate in their Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). This no doubt has led to the Wests lack of understanding of Islam and Muslims.

While I harbor no presumption that Mr. Poole's "finely" written article is truly meant to understand and Islam and Muslims and has more to do with the growing chorus of right-wing (i.e. Christian Fundamentalists) rantings against what they are ignorant of. So lets set the record straight. First, Mr. Poole obviously has never had Muslim acquaintances (I wouldn't even think he would consider a Muslim a friend) because my friends, family, and myself have all encouraged non-Muslim friends, classmates, and co-works to participate in fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. We have all encouraged them to join us at our Mosques for prayer and Eid celebrations (our holidays). And I can personally attest to the fact that I have had many of my colleagues happily join me in many of my religious experiences. In fact when I attended the Hajj a few years ago I explained in detail the rituals I would be performing before I left for Mecca and when I got back I showed them pictures I had taken. They told me they had followed the interactive program on cnn.com website. In fact one could also follow this year on their website (http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2006/hajj/). So if Mr. Poole is so interested in experiencing the Hajj here is a chance to do so on small level. Is he right that non-Muslims are forbidden to go to Mecca? Yes. This however has nothing to do with the Islamic religion and all to do with the authoritarian regime in Saudi Arabia. However, for the sake of argument lets say that Islam prohibits the entry of non-Muslims into Mecca, the Holy of Holies to Muslims. Is this any different than the old Jewish ban on the un-pure entering the holy of holies in the Jerusalem's Temple? Or what about the non-Mormons being banned from entering Mormon temples?

What about of the totally unrelated issue of members of other faiths in Muslim countries not being able to worship as Muslims in the west are. Muslims in the West are allowed to build Mosques where ever they want ( I could show newspaper articles just in the last couple of months that contradict that assertion) but you cant find a Church or Synagogue in the Muslim world. Apparently Mr. Poole doesn't think its his journalistic duty to do some research. He apparently hasn't seen the Armenian Churches in Tehran or the Synagogues. What about the Churches in Turkey, Indonesia (the most populous Muslim country), Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, etc.

So Mr. Poole I think the problem isn't with the Islam or Muslims. I think it is you Mr. Poole that maybe needs to expand your circle of friends. Maybe they can help you with your ignorance of 1.4 billion people around the world. As for your lack of journalistic abilities well maybe you just need a better editor. Then again thats probably why you will never write for a reputable (or even one that is even known) newspaper.

Merry Christmas

So here we go...

In the news:

Well I saw an interesting article on the internet this morning. Apparently, a Kuwaiti fundamentalist is saying that Muslims shouldn't wish Christians a merry Christmas. Well I knew this was coming. Why? Because there are to many lunatics out there who think they speak with authority. They (as in this case of this Kuwaiti) speak out against other faiths even when they clearly don't understand their own. Through out history it has been documented that Muslim clergy have not only wished Christians a merry Christmas but have encouraged other Muslims to do so as well. Further, this goes against everything that Islam teaches about good will towards the People of the Book. By wishing people a merry Christmas as Muslims we affirm our respect for the Prophet Jesus and his virgin birth to his beloved mother Mary. So to all: Merry Christmas.

At the movies:

The best movie I saw this weekend was the Chow Young Fat movie "Curse of the Golden Flower". This movie revolved around the idea of loyalty and betrayal. The movie has a great action scenes as most of Chow Young Fat's movies do. It a was movie full of rich details and subtle nuances. This movie is definitely a movie worth seeing. I would give it 4 stars out of 5.