Muslim Views . September 201722

IT was the first day of Hajj andmillions made their way to Minafrom Makkah in the days whenthere were no restrictions onnumbers.

Most walked the few kilome-tres, others took buses but themassive crowds, crazy traffic con-gestion and confusing police regu-lations led to absolute mayhemwith a resultant forward move-ment at a pace less than that of asnail sliming along at a leisurelyrate.

In the vast majority of cases,the pedestrians reached the largesttemporary tented city in the worldway before the buses had even leftMakkah. Those who walked suf-fered no medical issues of note asthe distance was short, theywalked in the early hours of themorning before the sun had fullyrisen and they were still relativelyfresh, energetic and on a spiritualhigh.

Most of the people on the buseshad physical frailties brought oneither by advanced age or a varietyof medical conditions. The impair-ments were in no way going tostop them, and they eventually allreached Mina.

The tented city that yearhoused the majority of SouthAfricans in the so-called ‘specialservices’ camp. This was situatedclose to the jamaraat and close toAzizyah, where the majority of uswere staying in the week leadingup to Hajj.

This made movement to andfrom the base in Azizyah relativelyeasy, and a number of SouthAfricans in fact spent more time inthe air conditioned comfort of theen-suite rooms in the Azizyahapartments during the last threedays of Hajj than on Mina itself.

Even though the religious lead-ers admonish this practice as Hajjis as much a physical journey as itis a spiritual one, the practice con-tinues. ‘The physical journeybrings you close to your Creatorwith all of us wearing the sameuniform ihraam, all enduring thesame perceived discomfort and allbeing part of one united ummah,’one imam pleaded.

Mina on Youmul Tarwiyah, thefirst day of Hajj,the first day of anew life formany; the firstday is namedafter an Arabicterm that means‘to carry water’as pilgrims usedto take thewater to Minain years gone byfor the days thatwere to follow.

Water is es-sential toquench thirst,essential for alllife and, in theblazing summerheat, essentialfor its cooling comfort.

Mina is a large city capable ofhousing millions in its tents. Ithowever welcomes them for onlya few days of the year. The rest ofthe time, it is a vast expanse ofanonymous rows of empty tentsexposed to the elements.

Strong winds, sandstorms, flashfloods and the unrelenting desertsun have unpredictable effects onthe structures throughout the year.

A few days before Hajj, Minabecomes a hive of activity as clean-ing, electrical, plumbing, catering,medical, security, traffic and mili-

tary personnel converge in theirthousands, ready to welcome theguests of Allah. Often, their effortsare not adequate and at othertimes the elements simply taketheir toll.

That year, the excited SouthAfricans soon filled the tents, withthe exclamation of ‘Labaik!’ fillingthe air. There was the usual confu-sion about which group was sup-posed to be housed where, somemattresses that somehow foundthemselves in places where theywere not supposed to be, and therearrangement of positions so thatfriends and family members couldbe close to each other.

Men and ladies of each groupwere in tents close to each other sothat couples were not too far fromeach other.

The tents on Mina were cooled

with water coolers. On the firstday, these coolers inevitably breakdown due to a lack of propermaintenance. The one in the men’stent initially stopped working buta few of us managed to get itworking through a combination ofa little expertise, a lot of experi-mentation and innovation, and alittle bit of luck.

The Saudi-assigned mainte-nance personnel were floodedwith complaints and were desper-ately trying to assist wherever theycould. They had to deal withagents who each felt that his com-

plaint was the single most impor-tant issue that needed to be dealtwith.

Just after midday, when thetemperature peaked, the cooler inthe ladies’ tent stopped working.A few of us, with the aid of theelectrician, desperately tried to getit working but it was evident thatnew parts were needed.

The ladies were all sweatingprofusely and many sought refugeoutside where it was slightlycooler. A few fainted inside thetent.

One option was to open thetent, which involved lifting theflaps on the sides of the tent. Thisallowed the breeze that was pres-ent to announce its refreshing,cooling effect. However, many ofthe ladies were in various stages ofsleep, lying down to rest, and

some, due to theextreme heat,were in variousstages of dress-ing minimally.We could not letthem be ex-posed to theopen world.

A few of theimams went tothe men’s tentand explainedthe situation tothem. It wassuggested thatthe ladies andmen switchtents. The ladieswould thenhave the fully

cooled tent while the men wouldbe in one that could be opened upand the breeze would then cool itdown. The men, we supposed,would have no problem being inan open tent.

I explained the medical adverseeffects of the high temperatures onthe ladies. Clearly, their spiritualwell-being was being compro-mised. The imams and I thought itwas a win-win suggestion. Afterall, most of the ladies either had afather, spouse or a brother in theinviting, cool tent. Surely, no onewould object.

But we were wrong, we were sowrong.

The relaxed men glared awayfrom the speakers. One or twowillingly got up. There was somemurmuring amongst the othersbut absolutely no interest in whatthe speakers were saying. Somemerely shrugged, turned theirbacks on us and attempted tosleep. One or two continued recit-ing. One of the imams was dumb-struck and repeated his request,again explaining the rationale forthe switch. Again just one or twomen moved, the others extremelyunwilling to move out of theircomfort zone.

By this time, someone had toldthe ladies of a possible switch intents and many of them had al-ready packed their belongings andwere waiting outside their tents,ready to be guided to cooler pas-tures. They, as well as the groupleaders, were getting increasinglyfrustrated as they could not under-stand why the delay was occur-ring.

We soon realised that this wasa no-win situation and went tohigher authorities to get urgent as-sistance with the required parts.We informed them that we wouldhave to move a number of theladies to hospital as they wouldsoon suffer from heat exhaustion.A few calls were quickly made.

It just takes an urgent call fromsomeone to get a rapid response.Within thirty minutes, some partshad arrived. Two technicians scur-ried up ladders inside the tents try-ing their utmost not to look at thesuffering ladies.

Within a few minutes, the unitsstarted working. This all was hap-pening while the men were utterlyrelaxed in their own havens.

The cool air was met with im-mense relief by the ladies. Theimam was saddened, saddenedthat, on the day when coolingwater was to be carried for the re-lief of their sisters, their brothershad refused to offer them a sip.For more Hajj Stories visitwww.hajjdoctor.co.za. You maycontact Dr Parker via e-mail:salimparker@yahoo.com

Heat of Youmul Tarwiyah

Water is essential to quench thirst, essential for all life and,in the blazing summer heat, essential for its cooling comfort, writes DR SALIM PARKER.

The tent city of Mina is large enough to house millions in its tents. It however welcomes the hujaaj for only a few days of theyear. The rest of the time, it is a vast expanse of anonymous rows of empty tents exposed to the elements.

Photo SALIM PARKER

One option was to open the tent,

which involved lifting the flaps on

the sides of the tent. This allowed the

breeze that was present to announce

its refreshing, cooling effect