By About 10 years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to perform hajj with my family. It was perfect, because hajj season was during winter break and I was in high school, so we got to escape the Midwest winter to embark on a journey of a lifetime.
Hajj will always be a memorable experience and I am so thankful I was able to fulfill one of the pillars of Islam when I was young.
But of course, there are negative moments from the pilgrimage that I will never forget — such as being groped right in front of the kaaba, realizing that the women’s area of the rawda was tiny in comparison to the men’s side and opened for a shorter period of time, and seeing so many poor people right next to lavish hotels and shopping centers right next to the Grand Mosque.
(Man selling dates, photo taken by Aya Khalil during hajj 2006)
Ten years ago, hajj was around $5,000, from what I can remember. Now, hajj packages start at $12,000.
Hajj is an obligation on anyone who can afford it and is healthy enough, but think of a family of five who want to perform hajj from the U.S. — that’s a whopping $60,000!
I’ll never forget the feeling of guilt of going to a five-star lavish breakfast at the hotel that overlooks the kaaba and then making my way to the kaaba to pray next to people who have been saving for this trip for years and stay at modest hotels several blocks away.
Many can’t afford any hotel or housing, and they end up sleeping right there in front of the kaaba, while a huge tower is being built. The juxtaposition is unreal.
I still remember the zaghareet (vocalization from the Middle East and North Africa used to express joy) Egyptian women were making at Egypt’s airport before departing to Saudi Arabia because they had saved up for this moment their whole life, and it was their first time to ride on an airplane.
I was only 15 at the time, but I remember also feeling guilty on the long bus rides to Mina from Mecca in air conditioned bus, while a beat-down truck right next to us had several pilgrims scattered around with no A/C.
The world’s largest hotel is currently being built in Mecca, right next to the Grand Mosque. Abraj Kudai luxury hotel costs $3.5 billion to build.
Hajj is supposed to be a reflective journey that humbles pilgrims and forget most worldly matters, not a competition on who can get the best view of the kaaba from their hotel room.
“Abraj Kudai will feature 12 towers, 10,000 rooms, 70 restaurants and four helipads. It is expected to cover 15 million square feet and rise 45 stories high by the time it opens,” an article from Middle East Eye reported.
Many pilgrims who barely afford hajj stay at hotels and housing far away from the main hajj points — like Mina, the Grand Mosque, and the Prophet’s Mosque — and they often walk more than an hour to get there. Further, many can’t afford any hotel or housing, and they end up sleeping right there in front of the kaaba, while a huge tower is being built. The juxtaposition is unreal.
I mean, come on now. There are already tons of luxurious hotels in the area, but this is a bit too much. Nights in that hotel will cost anywhere from $1,800 to $2,500 a night. Hajj is supposed to be a reflective journey that humbles pilgrims and forget most worldly matters, not a competition on who can get the best view of the kaaba from their hotel room.
With all the lavish and luxury, hotels and shopping centers for the pilgrims to enjoy, 20 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia lives in poverty. Around the kaaba, there were always children and older women and men selling toys, napkins and other items — and pan-handlers were not uncommon.
Hajj should not only be for the wealthy and privileged; rather, it should be more affordable for everyone around the world. More affordable accommodations need to be available in very close proximity to the Grand Mosque, as well as transportation.
Most people come to hajj from developing countries, and the country needs to do better by accommodating people from all socioeconomic backgrounds, instead of mostly catering to the wealthy.
As you mentioned there are some affordable housing too that I stayed in in the 70’s and and now that I am in my 60’s I stay in the more luxurious hotels but there are transportation from those affordable housing every half hour to take to the Kaaba site you should have a different view when you are those religious places my eyes caught the boy who a huge smile on his face with no legs running on the two hands very happy and contented and also almost flying on those two hands seen the poor next to the rich head to head and even seen them passing by them offering them food to share seen lots of Europeans actually had a lady praying next to
Me in the haram crying from the extent of of a higher level of love between pilgrims my dear lady you went to Haggag with your critical eye as a journalist not as a pilgrim who really went for the deed I am so sorry you did not go to pray or for the pilgrimage as usually we have no time to criticize or do anything but pray and love and enjoy the presence of god in every move or walk we take maybe one day you will .
You are judging her for noticing an inequity and daring to make mention that it needs to change? Is that what you are doing? And oh, by the way, if you had read the article, she is commenting on her experience from when she was a CHILD not as a journalist.
Even during the times of prophet Muhammed (pbuh), there would have been different standards of pilgrim accommodation available dependent on the wealth of the individual. Its neither irreligious nor immoral for people of wealth to spend their monies as they see fit: they are used to different standards of comfort and hygiene and if they have the water to pay for it, so be it.
This article is a lot about nothing. Perhaps the author would have spent more time in personal reflection and worship than worrying about how others perform their own hajj.
Thank you for pointing out the injustice of the Hajj experience. A devoted follower of any faith should not have to make such ridiculous and materialistic sacrifices!