My Hajj experience 2009 - Arafat and Mina

25 Nov 2009, still in Mecca preparing to go to Arafat for Wuquf. My jaw almost dropped when I heard big thunders and heavy rain - in Mecca? I have been to Mecca more than a dozen times and this is the first time I heard thunder and heavy rain. Some viewed the rain as a blessing but the organisers were worried about the floods news that might delay our trip to Arafat. I received SMS from Maz who was in Dubai at that time, asking whether I was caught in the 'big flood' as reported on TV. It was such an exaggeration. In actual fact, due to poor drainage system because they have not had much rain, the roads were with water but it was nothing compared to our Malaysia flash floods. Cars, small or big, could still go through. I guess it was such a big news to see Mecca with rains.

I was surprised that the drive to Arafat took about half an hour. The road system has improved tremendously with highways with multiple exits - it wasn't like in 1984. The tent in Arafat was pathetic with cloth roofs but colourful. It rained there too and the mattresses were soaked wet. We had to remove the mattresses and slept on mats and carpets. 25 - 26 Nov in Arafat was devoted to prayer. Discontent and unhappiness have to be put aside and focused on our Wuquf. True what people say. Sometimes during Hajj you see the other side of a person whom you think you know well - the real side of the person. I learned this and it surprised me to see a person who prided herself for being patient, calm, gentle and caustious showed unreasonable temper tantarums because things did not go the way she wanted it. In fact, I surprised mysef during the Hajj period for being accepting, calm and understood that in such situation some form of sacrifices were needed. Where did my temper and impatience go? I so wanted it to go away permanently and make me a nice even-tempered person that everyone likes -but that's not me.

Naaimah and her staff tried to make things better but deep discontent among the jemaahs about the management were obvious but I promised myself in my prayer that I would keep calm and deal with the issues when my Hajj was over and I am proud I was able to do just that.
The Wuquf was a fulfilling process for me. I was able to focus on my prayers and prayed not only for me but also for my children, siblings, relatives, friends, students and my country and its leaders. As Wuquf is a time when Allah grants your wishes, I prayed so hard for my Malaysia to be in peace always bringing the dignity of Islam to glory and the leaders could make amends inspite of their different political aspirations. I wonder how many of the jemaahs focused on their country and not on themselves alone.







The open sky at Arafat during Wuquf.








Inspite of the discomfort, we managed to go through our Wuquf, syukur alhamdullillah. We left Arafat after maghrib for Muzdalifah to fufill another requirement for Hajj - Mabit or to sleep there and that's the place where we picked 70 small stones for the Melontar or stoning of the devels rituals in Mina. Another discomfort awaited us, with thousands of Jemaah, toilets became big problems. Sharipah and I limited our drinking, not a healthy decision but we wanted to minimise the need to go to toilets. We rested on the mat while waiting for midnight to pass and at about one o'clock in the morning the buses came to pick us to Mina tents to stay for 3 days.


Mina was a disaster!! The tent where 29 of us stayed was cramped. We slept huddled together and that was where we slept, ate, read Quran and prayed. Nobody wore face masks and everywhere there were bad coughing and spitting. The situation was so unhealthy and was made worse by limited number of toilets for such huge number of jemaahs. The conditions of the toilet were appalling, made worse by selfish dirty Malay Muslim ladies who simply put soiled sanitary pads and rubbish in the toilets when there were rubbish bins outside. I was shocked, angry and disgusted. We were in the midst of our Hajj and they did the haram thing blatantly. These were the so called Muslims who covered themselves from head to toes but in actual practice they were hypocrites, ridiculing the basic teaching of Islam - cleanliness and welfare of others. I didn't know how to describe the miserable Malay attitude of those irresponsible women who had no shame and conscience. If the tents were shared with other races like the Indonesians, they could easily blamed them but the tents were for Malaysians only!! Was that what Hajj meant for them?? Mencemarkan kesucian fardhu haji?



At Jamratul Aqabah.









What surprised me so pleasantly was the process of Melontar. I was amazed at how much improvement has been done to make the process easier, compared to the time in 1984. There was no tension, no rush and no pushing with other people. The place was big enough to accomodate the melontar as the Saudi Governement has placed tight schedules for different countries to do their duty. There were 5 levels of Jamrah now instead of one before, so it was more relaxing though the walk there took 6 km one way.

Selfish attitude and inconsideration of others seemed to be the order of the day. Since toilets were limited, usage should be minimal and fast. Taking showers nearing prayer time were thoughtless and selfish but that was what was done. Long Q waited for those stupid water princesses to shower and many missed the morning prayer for not having enough time to ease themeselves and for abolution, whereas showering could be done after the prayers. I felt so sorry for some old ladies who pleaded to use toilet first to ease themselves and had to wait for some time. One or two couldn't hold and wet themselves at the toilet doors. I cried silently inside, in despair looking at the 'I, Me and myself' attitude of the Malay Muslims there. What's the meaning of Hajj to them? Why wasted so much money for Haj but refused to practice compassion and cleanliness?

Toilets were never cleaned for the 3 days we were there. Rubbish were thrown everywhere. I was looking for brooms and dust pans to do the cleaning and I would do it if I could find it. I picked the thrown plastic bags and rubbish with my fingers and threw them in the rubbish bins and I saw one or two others did the same but how much could we do when so many just couldn't care less? With such condition, no wonder so many of us got sick after Mina. I lost my voice and flu hit me hard.

As for the men, they spit phlem anywhere with such disgusting sound. Some urinated at the rubbish bins leaving stink beyond words. These are Muslims who have to wash themselves clean before prayer but in real life they are dirty pigs! With tension towards the organising company rising (TM Tours and Travels) dissatisfaction and anger ranged high, made worse by the jammed packed buses provided to go back to Mecca. We were told to be redha because all these were UJIAN. Oh yes, easy solution - blame it to GOD whereas the Ujian was man-made that could be avoided. Those who were gruntled would not get Haji Mabrur, so just shut up and don't say a word! Who is to determine who gets Haji Mabrur??

What I felt sad about was that none of the ustazah and uztaz who gave talks in the tents touched on the importance of cleanliness in Islam which should be applied in daily life. They saw the condition of the toilets but no mention to relate it to daily Islamic practices such as, it's haram to throw dirty sanitary pads for people to see. The focus was solely on how to pray this and that sunat, how to cover yourself and the routine prayer practices - but not relating it to practicing the actual teaching in Islamic life. I am not a pious lady but I think this is why we have so many hypocrites who judge others according to their standard of piousness. To me this is the weakness of Islamic religious teaching - failure to relate the teaching to daily life practices and resulting in lacking of penghayatan and over-emphasised on routines and rituals.


We heaved a huge sigh of relief when we left Mina which could easily become the filthiest city in the world - a testimony of irresponsible attitude and behaviour of Muslims. I hope Tabung Haji could do something to improve the condition in Mina in the Malaysian section for other Hajj seasons and making it a safe and healthy place.







This was my own personal experience told in a very candid truthful manner. Some might not like it and tried to portray that everything was good and fine and for one who saw some faults wasn't a deserving one. I am a true Muslim - body, mind and soul but I am not blind to the faults of human beings, including myself. I am no angel - impatient and direct and in so doing, I hurt feelings but I don't gossip or talk bad about others behind their backs - they get it direct from me.