After we prayed Isha on the 10th of Dhul-Hajjah, the day of
sacrifice, which witnessed our first stoning at the jamrah, our duty
was to stay the night a Mina. Pilgrims are supposed to stay a minimum
of two and a maximum of three nights at Mina, stoning at the jamrahs
in the afternoon of each following day. Both staying and stoning is a
duty the omission of which requires compensation by way of
slaughtering a sheep. If one misses both duties, one must sacrifice
two sheep.
It was not long after we had our dinner that we fell asleep. It is
amazing how soundly one can sleep in this place, despite the absence
of all the comforts one is used to. Fulfillment of the pilgrimage
duties is bound to make one tired and by early evening one is ready
to sleep in spite of all the noise and bustling movement which
continues throughout the night. One rises very early, however, in
order to pray Fajr at the most appropriate time. After Fajr, it is
difficult to go back to sleep. We have been out of our camp for a
stroll and to look at other pilgrims. One is never tired of the
scenes of pilgrims from all over the world fulfilling the same duties
at the same time. The genuine feeling of brotherhood is enhanced by
the awareness that all these millions of people have the same motive
for coming here and aspire for the same prize. Moreover, there is a
drive for excellence which is common to all of them. It is the sort
of competition in which the person who wins does not deprive the
others of their chance to be winners at the same level.
We have developed friendships over the last few days and we inquire
after our friends, visiting only those whose tents are known to us.
We will inquire after the others when we go to Makkah.
We have to think of tawaf of ifaadah. This is a duty which must be
offered personally by every pilgrim. It is a duty for which no
compensation is possible, if omitted. The best time for it was
yesterday, but that would have meant that we go to Makkah in the
afternoon, for I had not finished the stoning and sacrifice duties
until about midday. Had we gone to Makkah, my parents and my wife
might have missed their duty of stoning at the proper time. If we
left it till the evening, we ran the risk of being unable to come
back before midnight, thus missing the duty of staying in Mina.
Moreover, it would have been very tiring for my parents, after their
long walk the previous night. Since it is quiet permissible to delay
this tawaf for several days, I thought it was better to leave it till
today at the earliest. When it was well in the afternoon, and after
Asr prayer, we set out from our camp in order to do the stoning at
the three jamrahs. We picked up our pebbles in Mina, this time 21
little stones for each of us, since we had to do the stoning at the
three jamrahs. I was not certain how crowded the place would be,
since the time of stoning today did not fall until midday, while it
was to stone at the jamrah yesterday at sunrise. When we reached the
first jamrah, we decided to use the upper floor, since we knew it
would be less crowded. I wanted to make sure that my parents and my
wife would be able to do the stoning comfortably. So I asked them to
wait for me at a nearby place and went to gauge the crowd. I realized
it was impossible for them to push their way through that crowd. To
start with women must not attempt to go in the midst of a crowd of
men, especially if they were scrambling in a limited area. My father
suffered occasionally from difficulty of breathing. I went back to
them and offered them the choice of either to allow me to do the
stoning on their behalf, or to come back later, after nightfall, to
do the stoning by themselves. It was certain that they would have a
better chance then of doing the stoning by themselves. They were keen
to do their duty themselves, so they decided to come later. As for
myself, there was no reason why I should not do the stoning at its
appropriate time, that is, before sunset. I went ahead and did it,
throwing seven little stones at each jamrah.
We returned to the jamrahs after Isha prayer, and all three of them
were able to throw their stones comfortably. There were other women
and old men doing the same, availing themselves of the relaxation of
the period of time in which they had to do the stoning.
After considering all options open to us, with regard to the tawaf of
ifaadah, we decided that our best option was to start our journey to
Makkah after midnight that night. In so doing, we would have
fulfilled the condition of staying at Mina, because we would have
stayed there more than half of the night. We hoped that the tawaf
would not be heavily overcrowded. About two hours before dawn, we set
off from our camp. It was not difficult to find a vehicle to take us
to the Haram. When we arrived there, we felt the relaxed, happy at
atmosphere which everyone experiences in the Haram. There were only
three of us, this time, because my wife had not finished her period
yet. She stayed in the camp in Mina with the rest of our group. Sure
enough, the tawaf was crowded, but it was nothing like what it was
like in the two days immediately preceding our departure for Mina and
Arafat. We managed to do the tawaf on the ground floor, but it took
us about an hour to complete. Added to all the normal exciting
feelings of doing tawaf, and all the happiness that one feels as one
walks round the Kaaba, was the feeling that this was the most
important tawaf of pilgrimage. There was no way we could attempt to
kiss the black stone, because we did not want to get into the
unnecessary scrabble over it. We were bound to push others and be
pushed, which was not the way to go about fulfilling an act of
worship. We, therefore, made the signal of raising our hands every
time we got parallel with the black stone. After we completed our
seven rounds, we prayed two rak'ahs well beyond Maqam Ibraheem, so
that we did not inconvenience people walking their tawaf. When we
completed all the voluntary things associated with tawaf, (i.e. its
Sunnahs), it was not long before Fajr prayer was due. We, therefore
decided to wait for Fajr before doing our sa'iee of pilgrimage.
We duly started it immediately after finishing Fajr prayer. This
time, we found the ground floor very heavily congested, so we decided
to do it at the upper floor, where we found sa'ie much more relaxed.
The number of those who did the sa'ie at the upper floor did not
exceed one quarter of those who were doing it downstairs. Obviously,
people think that the proper place to do the sa'ie is downstairs.
That way of thinking is mistaken, otherwise it would not have been
allowed to do the sa'ie at the upper floor in the first place. All
scholars agree that if pilgrims do the sa'ie at the upper floor in
order to reduce the congestion, their sa'ie is equally valid. This
sa'ie was, for us, the sa'ie of pilgrimage, since we have opted for
the tamattu' method of ihram. Those who chose either of the other two
methods of ihram, i.e. the ifraad or the qiran methods, might have
offered the sa'ie when they did their first tawaf. In that case, they
would not be required to do another sa'ie when after their tawaf of
ifaadah. When we arrived there, people had already started putting
their things on coaches. We were told that some of the pilgrims have
already gone for stoning. That was very strange, since stoning does
not fall due until midday. Announcements were made by loud speakers
everywhere that stoning before Dhuhr was due was not valid. Yet
people overlooked this fact. I spoke to the mutawwif, who seemed
eager to have all his pilgrims ready to depart in a couple of hours.
He tried to persuade me that according to a certain school of thought
stoning before midday was permissible as a concession. This was not
the ruling to follow because it does not rely on any strong evidence.
We considered the option of staying that night in Mina, which would
have meant that we stayed until midday the following day when we
could do the stoning again before departing to Makkah. Our mutawwif
was not cooperative on this point, because he wanted to decamp that
day. We prayed Asr when it was due. Following an experienced
pilgrim's advice, I waited for another hour before I proceeded to do
the stoning. At the first jamrah, I threw seven stones for myself,
then I did the same for my father, then for my mother and last for my
wife, throwing seven stones separately on behalf of each one of them.
I then proceeded to the second jamrah and did the same, before
finishing at the Grand Jamrah, throwing seven stones for each one of
us. It was easy to do the stoning, there was little congestion or
rush at the time. Most of the pilgrims have done their stoning
already. Had my parents and my wife stayed with me, they would have
been able to do the stoning themselves. I stood a little aside and
prayed for myself, my parents, my children and my wife and everyone
else I knew. I then proceeded to leave Mina.
The jamrahs are close to its boundary, and it was necessary for me to
leave the boundaries of Mina before sunset. If I was still in Mina at
sunset, I would have had to stay that night there and do the stoning
again the following day. Since I had to join my parents and my wife,
I made sure of being out of Mina about half an hour before sunset.
There was now the problem of finding transport to take me to Makkah.
All vehicles were full to capacity with some of them using the top
for additional space. I felt that it might be quicker to walk, but
the distance was quite a long one. It was not easy to find room on
any vehicle. In fact, it was only on account of this problem that my
parents and my wife left on the mutawwif's coach. If the worst came
to the worst, I would be able to walk the distance, but it would have
been very difficult for them to do the same. Eventually, I managed to
squeeze myself on top of a bus and proceeded on the slow journey to
Makkah. When I arrived at our mutawwif's place, I found out that my
parents and my wife had arrive safely about an hour earlier. Now that
almost all our duties of pilgrimage have been completed, the only
duty we have to do, i.e. the tawaf of farewell must be delayed until
shortly before our departure from Makkah. Our plan, however, was to
stay a few more days in this blessed city.
------------ Hajj : A Pilgrim's Diary (End of Final Part 9/9)------
Source : Saudi Gazette
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