About thirty
to forty lakh people reach Mecca during Hajj and in the month of Ramadan.
This number is many times more than the population of Mecca. The civilians as
well as the government serve the pilgrims as best possible as they can. So, it
is an obligation of the pilgrims to pray for their increase in
sustenance and happiness (We recite this supplication while entering Mecca as
well as while boarding the bus).
If they
happen to benefit from you then you should happily let them have it. One must
not act miserly. The period of Hajj and the month of Ramadan are major seasons
for hotels, shops, buses, taxis etc. over there to earn their livelihood. If
you feel that they are earning more on those occasions, remember that they
deserve it. You should help them and pay them without being stingy.
Hazrat
Buraid (r.a.) narrates that Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said that spending in Hajj is like
spending in Jihad.
It is
narrated in a tradition from Hazrat Aisha that Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said, “The
reward of your Umrah is directly proportional to your expenditure on it. So,
the more you spend, the more reward you get.”
Transport Arrangement
Thirty
to forty lakh people try to travel in same direction during Hajj. It is not possible to
arrange for transport of all these people at one and the same time. Therefore,
Muallim arranges to drop everyone by bus in three trips. Due to a huge crowd on
the roads and traffic they manage to make only two trips with a great
difficulty. And the remaining one-third people either walk or go to the
destination via private means of transport.
Those who
manage to get in the vehicles during the first trip are active, clever and know
the difficulties of travel very well from worldly point of view. These people
reach the bus first and enter in it pushing and jostling each other.
Those who
are patient and wait for a long time and travel in the second trip are usually
simple people unaware of difficulties and fearful of crowds. The time to reach
the destination ends before the departure of third trip. So those who are aware
of the order of rituals and have the knowledge of Hajj laws, they
start their journey without waiting.
They either
walk or travel by private taxis. For instance, if you want to go to Arafat
from Mina then buses start for first trip immediately after morning
prayers and come back at around 11:00 a.m. for the second trip and reach Arafat
at around 2:00 p.m. If they come back for the third trip, it would be evening
by the time pilgrims reach Arafat. Hence, the third round is not possible.
Traveling on Foot During Special Days of Hajj
1) Mina is about 4.5 to 5 kms away from Holy
Mecca.
2) Mina is itself about 1.5 to 2 kms long.
3) Muzdalifa borders Mina.
4) Arafat is 6.5 kms away from Mina.
5) Safa and Marwa are 395 meters apart.
6) If you circumambulate around Holy
Kaaba from near the place of Ibrahim, you must walk 150 meters to
complete a round. So, you will have to walk a little over a kilometer for one
complete Tawaf.
7) When you circumambulate from the distance
of 100 feet from Holy Kaaba, you must traverse about a kilometer and three
quarters of it.
8) Distance between Safa and Marwa
is of 395 meters. Hence you will have to walk about 3 kms for complete seven
rounds.
9) If you circumambulate from a distance of
100 feet from Kaaba and walk between Safa and Marwa during Umrah, you will walk
for about 4.5 km, the distance between Mecca and Mina. If you can perform Umrah
easily, you can go to Mina from Mecca with the same ease and in the same time.
10) When you perform Umrah on
reaching Mecca, you should estimate your physical strength. If you can perform
Umrah easily then you can travel between Mecca and Mina easily.
11) If you can go around Safa and Marwa seven
times once again after resting for a while after performing Umrah, you can
travel the distance between Mina and Arafat easily.
12) People perform Tawaf five to seven times a
day. This is more than the distance between Mecca and Mina or Arafat. As they must
walk at the same place, they manage to gather courage for it. While the journey
of Mina and Mecca or Mina and Arafat is never undertaken on foot because the
very thought of it drains all courage. Therefore, one must keep watch over
his/her first Umrah. One must estimate his/her strength, keep faith on God's
help and travel on foot as much as possible.
Personal Advice
I personally
advise you to travel during Hajj as follows:
Take the map
of the tent from the Muallim before going to Mina. Wait for bus to Mina from
your hotel in Mecca. You can go by bus as Muallims start transporting pilgrims
to Mina from the night of 7th Zilhajj onwards. You must reach
Mina before noon on 8th Zilhajj so, most probably, you will get
place in the bus easily.
Also, the
bus will drop you at your tent and searching your tent for the first time may
be a problem. If the Muallim doesn't start transporting pilgrims in the night
itself there would be a great rush and chaos in the morning. Hence, it is
advisable to start for Mina on foot after morning prayers in such a situation.
If ladies or
aged persons are with you who cannot walk, you would have to wait and go by
second or third round of bus. You need to only pray five times prayer after eaching
Mina on 8th Zilhajj. You can do so even if you reach Mina at 2:00 p.m. in the
afternoon.
If you can
walk, have the map of Mina and courage to find your tent over there then start
on foot taking the name of Allah. About 70 persons stay in a tent at Mina.
People find it very difficult to sleep. Those who reach Mina soon occupy as
much space as they want and those who come later find it difficult to even keep
their luggage. If such a situation arises one must be patient.
Deposit your
luggage in a corner, gather a few religious persons and stretch a curtain in
the middle of the tent to veil the ladies and try to send them to one side.
This will free the extra space occupied by those who come early. Then you can
divide the space justly amongst yourself with agreement. Following the
religious laws improve not only our hereafter but also our worldly life.
If you get
the bus to Arafat from Mina easily without pushing and jostling, it is well and
good. Otherwise, you should travel by a private taxi. Do not walk
because you need to save all your energy for day-long prayers and worship. You
will see a sea of people on nearing Arafat, beware, a huge crowd doesn't mean that the
place is Arafat.
The
plains of Arafat
are limited area whose boundaries are already marked. The obligations of
halting at Arafat can be completed only by halting within boundaries. The area
of Masjid-e-Numrah and many nearby areas are not included in Arafat limits.
When you enter the plains of Arafat, you should check whether you have entered
its limits.
Totally,
eleven roads go to Arafat from Muzdalifa. Out of which, only two
are reserved for pedestrians while other nine for vehicles. The two pedestrian
roads start from Masjid-e-Sha'rul Haraam in Muzdalifa. Out of them, road number
one goes to Masjid-e-Namra and road number two to Jabal-e-Rahmat.
These roads will be numbered as one and two. Road number one is between road
number 4 and 5 which are reserved for automobiles and road number two is
between roads 7 and 8.
Masjid-e-Namra is located at the entrance of
Arafat. A part of it towards Muzdalifa is outside the limit of Arafat while
Jabal-e-Rahmat is inside Arafat. Both places are heavily crowded. If your group
includes women and aged people, it is better to keep away from these two
places. Otherwise there is a danger of getting separated from each other.
Every year
about 35 to 40 lakh people go for Hajj. People travel from Mecca to Mina and
Mina to Arafat in a period of about 3 to 4 hours i.e. a person may start 3
hours before and another 3 hours later. However, all start travelling to
Muzdalifa from Arafat together just after sunset.
Therefore,
vehicles parked at the end of Arafat away from Masjid-e-Namra remain stranded
over there for as long as 3 to 4 hours and reach Muzdalifa at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m.
at night thus both Maghrib and Isha prayers of the people become Qaza. The
Muzdalifa night is very important.
Almighty
Allah has praised Shab-e-Qadr saying that this night is better than a thousand
nights but He has ordered to remember Him in the night of Muzdalifa in Holy
Quran as, “... so when you hasten from Arafat then remember Allah near
Masha'ril Haraam and remember Him as He has guided you though before that you
were certainly of the erring ones.” (Holy Quran 2:198)
If you want
to reach Muzdalifa in time to pray, there is no option but to
walk. Muzdalifa is about 6 kms from Arafat. About 20 lakh people would be
walking along with you during this journey. You will feel good walking along
with these people and even if you go slow taking short halts for rest then also
you will reach Muzdalifa in 2 to 3 hours.
And if you
are tired or accompanied by women or aged, hire a private taxi because buses
get packed till the roofs soon after Asr prayers and the actual time of
supplication in Arafat is from Asr to Maghrib. You should pray your heart's
content during this period and start peacefully after Maghrib.
Muzdalifa
and Mina border
each other and tents of Mina are erected even in Muzdalifa because of space
shortage. So, you should travel on foot between them and you might not even get
a vehicle for such a short distance.
Tawaaf-e-Ziyarat
It has
already been mentioned that Mina is only 4.5 kms away from Holy Mecca, the
distance one travels during one Umrah. You should travel from Mecca to Mina and
Mina to Mecca on foot. If you walk, you will complete this journey in about 30
minutes.
A vehicle
may take 2 to 3 hours. Saudi Government is aware of the
difficulties of transport. They have constructed good roads and tunnels to walk
on for this short journey. Shade is provided on the way and drinking water
arrangement is perfect. If you have a trolley your journey would be easier. One
more reason you should walk from Mina to Mecca is that you must leave Mina
before Maghrib on 12 Zilhajj.
If you start
on foot you will surely leave Mina before Maghrib. On the other hand, buses and
taxis get stuck in traffic for about 2 hours. Therefore, even if you start from
your tent on time, due to traffic you may get stuck there till Maghrib, then it
would be the best to stay back in Mina.
Taxi drivers of Haram
Guard
yourself from the taxi drivers of Haram while your stay there. Never trust them
in any matter. Many of them are non-patriotic and have a criminal
bent of mind. They are involved in numerous cases of fraud and robbery.
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