TOWARDS A SUCCESSFUL HAJJ OPERATION
PRE- AND POST HAJJ SUGGESSTED ARRANGEMENTS WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON MAKKAH, MINA, ARAFAT AND JEDDAH AIRPORT
PREPARED BY :
ABUBAKAR MUHAMMAD SANI BIRNIN KUDU
ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF MADINAH
FOR A 3-DAY SEMINAR
TOWARDS CONDUCTING A HITCH-FREE AND SUCCESSFUL 2008 HAJJ OPERATION
BY THE ABUJA MUSLIM PILGRIMS AFFAIRS
ORGANISED BY
THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY ADMINISTRATION
FROM MONDAY 26 AUGUST 2008 – WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST 2008
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Towards A Successful Hajj Operation – Responsibilities of Stakeholders
Preamble
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May His blessings and peace be upon His noble Messenger, Muhammad and his family and companions.
Hajj, as is known to all, is one of the five fundamental pillars upon which the Deen of Islam is built. It is an obligatory act once in a lifetime upon every capable, sane and adult Muslim. This is strongly supported by texts of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, as well as the consensus of all Islamic scholars.
It is the only pillar of Islam that must be performed at a specific place, that is the city of Makkah and its vicinity – Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifah. Every intending pilgrim, from all nooks and crannies of the world, must be at that particular place within the specified period of time, that is from the 8th to the 13th of Dhul Hijjah. Having this in mind enables one to have a clear perception of the importance of making sound and constructive arrangements for the success of such a gigantic operation, attended by two to three million or more people. All stakeholders must therefore get all hands on deck and make perfect arrangements towards achieving this end.
It is highly imperative to mention that participating in running the affairs of pilgrims, if done in good faith and with perfect sincerity in earning Allah's pleasure, earns one a blessed abode in the hereafter. This is the case even if one is bound by virtue of his official duty to carry out these activities, on which he is remunerated materially. Therefore, the need to dedicate one's responsibilities wholly towards earning the pleasure of Allah in any given duty, much less the rites of Hajj, cannot be overemphasized. Actions are judged according to intentions.
The Major stakeholders as far as Hajj Operation in the holy places is concerned are:
1. The National Tawafa Establishments
2. The National Guide Establishments
3. The Unified Agents' Office
4. The Zamzami's Unified Office
5. Hajj Accommodation Landlords
6. Airlines
7. Pilgrim Authorities
8. Pilgrims
9. Saudi Ministry of Hajj
10. Pilgrim Transport Companies and Buses Commission
All these bodies must join hands together for the success of any hajj operation. I will discuss more on the first six and their responsibilities. As for the numbers 7-9, I only stress on the need to ensure perfect cooperation between them and that each should know and respect the rights and duties of the other. As regards number 10, it is the sole duty of the Tawafah establishments and the Unified Agents' Office to deal with them. Pilgrims or their representatives hardly come into contact with them but through the Unified Agents' Office. Their main role is to provide buses to convey the pilgrims to where the Tawafah and Agents ordered them.
ONE: THE NATIONAL TAWAFA ESTABLISHMENTS
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
This is the oldest body that is known to undertake the whole responsibilities of helping and guiding the pilgrims in the course of performing their pilgrimage rites. The word Tawwafah is derived from the origin "Tawaf" meaning the circumambulation round the Ka'abah. The Mutawwif is the person that helps the pilgrim perform his Tawaf, by practically guiding him and reciting aloud the various dhikr and supplications that are usually said in the tawaf. The pilgrim or pilgrims follow the Mutawwif step by step and repeat after him whatever he says, and imitate him in whatever he does. Makkan historians are of the opinion that this practice originated during the reign of the Mamluks, who ruled the Muslim ummah in the seventh to the ninth centuries of the Hijrah. As they were not of Arab origin, they needed to be taught what to say when performing the Hajj rites, more especially the Tawaf. As such the main Qadi (Judge) of Makkah at that time was assigned to go round with them teaching them and practically guiding them on what to do and what to say. Later on the practice extended to some ulama and other influential members of the Makkan community.
As time went on, the role of these Mutawwifs was not restricted to this practical guide role, but they were everything the pilgrim would need. They were the landlords in whose houses the pilgrims resided, the transporters who sacrificed their donkeys and camels for the pilgrim to move from Makkah to Mina-Arafat-Muzdalifah and back. He arranges for the pilgrim's stay in Mina and Arafat, calls a doctor to diagnose him whenever he is ill, reports to the relevant authorities of any irregularities occurring against him, and a host of other services . In the actual sense the Mutawwif in the language of the people of old Makkah was more than a mere religious guide, but rather a full guarantor, a guardian, a host and a service renderer. Albeit, all these services were not in all cases rendered for free, but for a token amount of money in respect of some, while some even practiced the profession for the sake of the reward they expect from Allah. Other Mutawwifs went all the way in making the Tawafah their main source of earning, as such their remuneration was whatever amount they could pump out of the guest.
The pilgrim at that time was given full right to choose his Mutawwif, from the time he sets his feet on the shores of Jeddah, a number of Mutawwifs or their agents would converge on him asking him the question: "Who is your Mutawwif?", and if he happened to know one either because he had previously performed the Hajj or through the advice of an acquaintance, he would mention a name, and that person would come forward, take him by the hand and carry his luggage, load it on his donkey or camel and set off for Makkah. This stage of the Tawafah exercise the historians call "Marhalat As-Su'al" (the questioning stage).
Later in the time of the Ottaman and the Hashimites, as the number of pilgrims increased, the authorities sought to exercise some sort of control over the running of the Tawafah business. They issued what was called 'Taqarir', which were official documents confirming the right of Tawafah of a particular country to a specific person among the major Mutawwifs, at the death of whom the validity of the document will still be benefited by his progeny.
This continued up to the time of Al-Su'ud when King Abdul'Aziz issued a circular confirming all Mutawwifs in their positions and that their salaries would continue as they were. From then on the whole Hajj operation became fully official and the government bore its whole responsibility , up to the time when a special ministry was formed for Hajj, and the works of the Mutawwifs in Makkah and Adillah in Madina was divided into a four-tire body of service establishments: The Tawafah, the Adillah, the Unified Agents, and the Zamazimas.
The Tawafah establishments were further divided into six according to the geographical distribution of the pilgrims countries. They are:
· Turkey, Europe and the Americas
· Iran
· South Asian countries
· South East Asian countries
· Arab countries
· African non-Arab countries
DUTIES AND ROLES OF THE TAWAFAH ESTABLISHMENTS
1. Receiving pilgrims coming from Jeddah or Madinah at the reception centres in various gates of Makkah. There would be representatives of every regional office to which the pilgrims were assigned. These representatives must have with them names and addresses of the accommodation assigned to the pilgrims, and after signing the necessary documents the pilgrims would be directed to their designated place of accommodation;
2. Overseeing the lease agreement between the pilgrim authorities and the landlords, as copies of the agreements must be attested by the establishments. They also help the pilgrims in finding suitable lodging places, and they must send representatives to overlook the place and ensure that it has fulfilled all conditions laid down by the government;
3. Attending to the comfort of their pilgrims. In fact the establishments, being the replacements of the Muallim (an old title of the Mutawwif), are responsible for taking care of everything to do with the pilgrim during his stay in Makkah. They are bound by law also to send representatives to guide the pilgrims in their Tawaf, and make sure that the pilgrims accommodation is well guarded;
4. They should send their representatives to the various offices of the Ministry of Hajj that have been assigned to cater for lost pilgrims. These offices are usually located around the al-Masjid Al-Haram, and should deliver any lost pilgrim from the countries assigned to them back to his lodging place. This should also be ensured at the Holy sites of Mina and Arafat;
5. Bringing the prescribed means of transport at the suitable times for taking the pilgrims to Mina on the 8th of Dhul Hijjah, and from Mina to Arafat, to Muzdalifah, then to Mina and finally back to Makkah on the 12th or 13th. A representative among the residents of Makkah who is well acquainted with the city of Makkah and the sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah is assigned to guide the bus driver to all these places to avoid being lost and consequently arriving late;
6. On failing to make adequate arrangements with the Buses Commission to bring the buses for transporting the pilgrims or in the case of the bus getting out of order, the establishment is bound by law to hire another bus at its expense to deliver the pilgrims;
7. Cooperating with the relevant authorities responsible for the pilgrims religious awareness on issues of Hajj, so that the pilgrims perform their hajj rites according to the true teachings of the Sunnah;
8. The Tawafah establishments are also responsible for receiving the plot of land at Mina and Arafat allocated to their pilgrims, and for supplying the adequate amount of tents in which the pilgrims will stay. They are bound by law to take extra care of the tents and liaise with the Fire Brigades (Civil Defense, as called in Saudi Arabia) in applying all the guide lines and instructions necessary for the safety of the pilgrims and the tents;
9. Supplying enough water, electricity and the necessary service attendants required for the general cleanliness of the tents, toilets and their surroundings;
10. Receiving pilgrims' passports or travel documents and keeping them with extra care until the completion of their departure formalities. They are also duty bound to give each pilgrim a card with the basic information printed on it as applicable, and a pilgrim's receipt of the card is a proof that the Establishment has received his travel documents. The card carries the name, nationality, passport number, its date, date of arrival and other necessary information pertaining the pilgrims;
11. Upon travelling from Makkah to Jeddah or Madinah passports and other travel documents of the particular groups of pilgrims are handed over to the driver of the vehicle assigned to them, who will subsequently hand them over to the relevant authorities in the place of destination. It should be noted here that passports are never handed to the pilgrim from the time they were received from them at the airport, until the day of their final departure from Saudi Arabia.
12. Providing labourers to load and unload pilgrims' luggage from the top of the buses. This should not be done by any pilgrim at all, and government will hold the concerned driver responsible for anything that may befall the pilgrim in the course of doing that;
13. Continually checking the conditions of their pilgrims and helping them complete any formalities at any government offices;
14. Informing the concerned authorities about lost of pilgrims, and making follow-up contacts every six hours at least, and informing the Public Security Department in case they are not found or in case any one of them disappears for 24 hours, or absconds or does not leave at the times stipulated for his departure;
15. Informing the relevant authorities in case any of their pilgrims gets sick or is dead;
16. Respecting their responsibilities and minding their duties and treating the pilgrims in the most polite and good manner. The government of the Kingdom takes very serious any maltreatment the pilgrims may suffer from them;
17. The government also warns the establishments against permitting their pilgrims to sleep in the streets or open squares, and in case it is proved that some of their pilgrims do so, either in Makkah or Mina or Arafat, they will be liable to questioning;
These are some, not all, of the responsibilities of the Tawafah establishments in Makkah and the holy sites. Having a clear picture of them enables the pilgrim and his authority to know what action to take, where, when and with whom, if there is any problem with regards to the services expected to be rendered to the pilgrims.
TWO: DUTIES OF THE NATIONAL GUIDE ESTABLISHMENT
The term guide, Arabic: 'dalil', plural: adillah, means the person or persons responsible for guiding the visitor to Madinah to perform his visits in order.
This is particular in the case of Madinah, as such is out of the scope of this paper.
THREE: DUTIES OF THE UNIFIED AGENTS OFFICE
This is the body of the National service providers that first comes into contact with the pilgrim on his first arrival at the airport. Like the Tawafah in Makkah and the Adillah in Madinah, the Agents office is wholly responsible for anything to do with the pilgrims once they are in Jeddah, especially in the Camp at the airport. Their main responsibilities as stipulated by the Ministry of Hajj are:
1. Receiving the pilgrims, welcoming them, guiding them to their lodging places in the Pilgrims Camp at the airport (Madinatul Hujjaj), see to their comfort, attend to whatever they may need during the period of their stay;
2. Helping to facilitate the transport of the pilgrims, bringing the buses assigned for taking them to Makkah or Madinah, and rendering them all such help as to secure their transport according to the arrangements set for this purpose;
3. Informing the Tawafah Establishments in Makkah and the Guides Establishments in Madinah by telephone, telex or facsimile, of the names of the pilgrims arriving at its office and assigned to them as they come along without delay. Also supplying the car and bus drivers with the data relating to the pilgrims they have to transport, so as to make it easy for the reception committees to guide the pilgrims to the relevant Establishments offices they belong.
4. Receiving the passports and the travel documents from the pilgrims and keeping them according to the regulated instructions.
5. Writing the necessary forms and details in the given statements to identify both the pilgrims and the establishments the belong to;
6. Collecting the fees for the services and for the rent of the tents according to the given instructions. And writing the details of what the pilgrim paid in detail inside the special seal for the unified agents office which is fixed on the pilgrim's passport;
7. Receiving the pilgrims immediately on their return from Makkah after performing their pilgrimage, or after their return from Madinah, and guiding them to their lodging places in the Camp before their final departure to their countries;
8. Continually checking the conditions of the pilgrims and helping them complete all necessary formalities they may require at any government offices;
9. Informing the concerned authorities about any lost pilgrim and following up the issue every six hours, and informing the Security Departments in case he is not found within 24 hours, or does not leave at the time stipulated for his departure;
10. Informing the nearest health centre in case a pilgrim gets sick, especially if his disease is suspected to be contagious, and helping the pilgrim to be referred to a hospital;
11. Informing concerned National Tawafah, the Ministry of Hajj and Bait Al-Mal about the pilgrims who die, giving their names, ages, nationalities, numbers of their passports, and what each has of money, luggage, etc, stating the place of death, its cause, and the death certificate in accordance with the stipulated procedures, as well as informing the Municipality and the Mortuary Department about the dead persons so as to make the necessary arrangements for burying them;
FOUR: DUTIES OF THE ZAMZEMIS UNIFIED OFFICE
This office is one of the old bodies rendering, in the main, the service of providing pilgrims with water from the well of Zamzam. Its role is now limited due to the feasibility of acquiring the zamzam water within the area of the Masjid Al-Haram. But arrangements are made for them to provide the pilgrims with the water on their arrival at the airport and all pilgrim reception and dispatch control centres. In the past they used to deliver the Zamzam water to the places of accommodation of pilgrims.
SUGGESTIONS ON HOW BEST TO DEAL WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED BODIES TO ACHIEVE MUXIMUM SUCCESS IN THE HAJJ OPERATION
As is seen from the duties stipulated by the Saudi government on each of the mentioned service organizations, the government has taken care of almost all the services necessary for the conduct of the Hajj. Nevertheless, considering the enormous number of people performing the hajj, a more closer effort from the Hajj officials from the home countries of the pilgrims must be resorted to. Some of the helpful suggestions are:
· As most of the activities in the Pre-Hajj operation are centred on reception and accommodation in addition to orientation and religious guidance for the pilgrims to make good use of their time in attending five daily prayers in the Holy Mosque, a strong delegation should be formed from among the Abuja pilgrims officials and sent as an advance party to ensure the smooth running of the activities. They should advisably be six in number;
· This party should board any available flight and arrive before the first batch of pilgrims from the Capital Territory;
· Part of that advance party committee (i.e. two) should be based in the Pilgrims Camp (Madinatul Hujjaj) at the airport to personally oversee the reception exercise, and assist the Agents officials in lodging them in the relevant places, before being boarded on the buses carrying them to Madinah or Makkah;
· The officials should assign a leader in each bus who should make a list of the pilgrims in the bus;
· They should ensure that members of one family are boarded on the same bus and are not separated;
· An able religious guide should be put in each bus to help give the pilgrims the relevant religious guidance on their way to either Makkah or Madinah, on what is required of them;
· Another part (i.e. two) should proceed to Makkah, and the other two, to Madinah before the pilgrims' arrival. Both delegations should ensure that accommodation arrangements are intact, and if the pilgrims are coming their way they should assist in receiving them at the various reception centres;
· Those in Makkah should make a thorough inspection of the houses rented by their authorities to accommodate the pilgrims and report any lapses they observe to the landlord concerned, and where he fails to cooperate or take action the Tawafah establishment or the Ministry of Hajj should be informed for an immediate redress of the situation;
· Where the officials have rented a building they take for an office, its full name and address must be sent to the Tawafah establishments, and a board should be raised on a high place on the building carrying the name of relevant hajj mission or state welfare board;
· The officials at the airport should notify those at Madinah or Makkah of the movement of the pilgrims from Jeddah to either Makkah or Madinah respectively and they should state the times of departure of the first and last buses from Jeddah for them to estimate the right time they should arrive at the reception centre.
· It is important to note that arrangements in the Tawafah establishments in Makkah are organized, with regards to Nigeria in particular, according to states. One state may have a different Tawafah office from another, as such close relations between the Abuja Hajj officials and the relevant Tawafah office must be ensured. It is advisable that two different officials be assigned to be responsible for anything to do with relations between the office and Abuja Hajj officials, and they must pay regular visits to the office at least three times a day, or as the situation requires, or if it is possible, one officer should be attached to the office and attend to any matter arising with respect to his pilgrims. This close relation helps in making easy all arrangements to be on time and under immediate supervision, more especially in urging the Tawafah office to bring the buses carrying the pilgrims to Mina on the 8th in time and at the right place nearer to the pilgrims accommodation places;
· A special committee should be formed to oversee the arrangements in Mina. This should be in liaison with the Tawafah office. The officials should demand that they be given chance to go and observe the assigned plot designated for their pilgrims prior to the 8th. This will enable them make arrangements that most suit their pilgrims, in terms of separating the sexes in assigning toilets, observing which part of the tent would be taken as a door, feasibility of emergency exits, the suitable tent to be assigned as clinic, and other such arrangements;
· As regards arrangements in Madinah, they are of a centralized nature. The Adillah office in Madinah deals with Nigeria as a whole, not states, in terms of accommodation, as I will come to discuss – in sha Allah.
· Pilgrims should be made aware before their departure from Nigeria that on arriving at the airport their passports will be collected from them, and that they should not feel embarrassed about it, and that relevant documents and their pilgrim ID card will suffice for identification purposes and any other procedure they may require to undertake, up to the time of their departure from Saudi Arabia. Holders of official passports will remain with their passports, and in the event of any Agent or Saudi official making the mistake of taking official passports from their holders, an amicable way should be sought to recover them through the offices of the Tawafah in Makkah, or the Adillah in Madinah;
· The officials in Makkah should furnish the Tawafah establishment with the list of pilgrims travelling to Madinah two days prior to the date of departure, for early arrangements for buses and other formalities;
FIVE: HAJJ ACCOMMODATION LANDLORDS
As highlighted above, accommodation arrangements for the pilgrims during their stay in Makkah is different from that of Madinah. In Makkah all states of the Federation of Nigeria make their separate arrangements for accommodation and they are free to choose the suitable building they like and make agreement with the landlord under the supervision and attestation of the Tawafah establishments. While in Madinah all pilgrims are accommodated in houses rented by the Federal Hajj authorities regardless of the pilgrims' states of origin. Lodging arrangements are made on the basis of which bus first reaches Madinah , as such various states may find themselves in one building.
This of course presents some difficulties to the state officials as they cannot exercise full control on the arrangements regarding their pilgrims, as a small number of about 500 pilgrims can be dispersed to about 5 different locations, nay some officials may not even be aware of the whereabouts of their pilgrims for as long as three days. This, I hope, will be looked into with the view of coming out with sound and concrete suggestions to deal with the situation. The main argument usually mentioned by the federal hajj authorities is that houses in Madinah are based on the length of stay each pilgrim is supposed to have at a given time, as such, where flights and arrivals at Madinah are not arranged according to states, it would be difficult to arrange pilgrims in Madinah according to their states, so they must be according to their arrival. That is because the lease agreement for each house in Madinah is made on eight number of days, and a landlord with a house the capacity of which is 500 pilgrims will not be left waiting after the arrival of 500 Nigerian pilgrims just because 200 of them are from a state different from that of the majority 300.
As for the situation in Makkah, pilgrims' stay is of a lengthy period, or to be more precise, is not even limited to a specific number of days, so arrangements for the pilgrims of each state to be located in a separate building or neighbourhood is easy and more feasible. There is room for careful and well arranged supervision.
As state officials here have their say on where and what building to rent, there is the need for them to be exhorted to fear Allah Ta'ala in their conduct and be true representatives of the pilgrims, by avoiding any corrupt and unruly financial misconduct, more especially if they realize the enormity of the offence, the gravity of such practices in the holy places, and in the name of a religious responsibility. If the pilgrims' money can afford them the best accommodation, they should not be deprived of that chance by lodging them in a bad, remote and filthy area.
It is advisable that early arrangements for accommodation be made, if possible at a time after the immediate last hajj, to avoid being forced to accept houses at exorbitant rates.
The issue of accommodation, particularly in Makkah, is one of the most serious to be carefully taken care of, for the sensitivity of the pilgrims towards it is very high, and any lapse in it is usually not forgiven easily by them. It is advisable that a committee of highly respectful, morally upright, financially trustworthy personalities should be formed to bear the responsibility of contracting accommodation agreements with prospective landlords in Makkah.
Another committee within the officials should be delegated to oversee the general cleanliness of the houses during the pilgrims stay in them, and report any lapses to the landlord or the concerned Tawafah establishment.
The Saudi Ministry of Hajj has stipulated that all landlords shall provide the Tawafah establishments with information about their houses which they wish to let during the pilgrimage season, and that information shall include:
a) Location of the house and its address in full;
b) Type of building;
c) Number of floors and rooms available in each;
d) A list of the house contents;
e) Copy of the license permitting the house to be leased for pilgrim lodging issued by the housing inspection committee of the ministry, for that particular year;
f) A copy of the lease contract signed between the original landlord and the lessor;
g) A copy of the power of attorney (if applicable).
Therefore pilgrims' officials should, from their own side, ensure that these and other regulations to do with the lease agreement are duly fulfilled by the landlord, to avoid any hitch that may lead to the revocation of the contract and consequently causing some sort of inconvenience to their pilgrims.
The Tawafah establishment is bound by law to sign its authentication or attestation on the lease agreement free of charge, so state officials should not commit themselves by giving any amount to the establishment or any of its representatives, and they are bound by law to report any case in which a demand for such is made by anyone. Likewise, no part of the amount agreed upon in the contract shall be received by the Tawafah establishments or their representative, nor should they make any profit, or commission or compensation.
The value of the rent is based on the agreement made between the landlords or the lessors and the pilgrims or their representatives, depending on the conditions regarding demand and supply.
LODGINGS ARRANGEMENTS IN MINA AND ARAFAT
The Tawafah establishments are wholly responsible for securing the plots on which the pilgrims spend the few nights on the holy sites.
The pilgrim officials should ensure that the necessary requirements are fulfilled by the Tawafah establishment with respect of the tents they will stay in. These requirements are:
· That they must use the new tents that have the set of specifications, and that have been treated with fire-resisting solutions in accordance with the approved regulations;
· That the area apportioned to each pilgrim in the tents to be, at least, two metres by one metre (2 x 1m) ;
· The tent-camps should be provided with additional and proper water tanks to be filled and made ready for use wen the public water supply stops. The relevant Tawafah establishment is bound by law to provide water in whatever situation;
· The are also to supply lighting in case of the non-connection with the general electric current;
· They must ensure to supply containers for keeping garbage, and labourers should be available to keep the area clean and empty the containers from time to time, and to spray insecticides;
· Enough toilets must be provided in line with the sanitary conditions and instructions;
· It is advisable that extra care is given to who enters the pilgrims' tents at all times, to avoid thefts, or illegal trespass. The authorities should note that there are cases every year where some Nigerians among the 'umrah left overs' and who have no particular place to stay in Mina, find their way into the tents assigned for regular pilgrims, and thereby depriving them of their shares of the apportioned places;
· In Arafat care should be taken to ensure that pilgrims do not stay out of the stipulated and designated area and proceed to Muzdalifah without coming back to the right place up to the time of sunset;
· Where buses are brought early in order to convey the pilgrims to Muzdalifah, the officials should see to it that even if the pilgrims are boarded on the buses the driver should be told not to move until after sunset ;
· Quietness and calm are needed in the areas of Mina and Arafat to enable the pilgrims dedicate all of their time for dhikr and supplications, so officials should discourage the continuous movement in and out unless for necessary purposes, and the ulama should be given enough chance to teach the pilgrims and guide them on the right things with which to engage themselves;
· If the authorities would be able to make adequate feeding arrangements in Mina and Arafat, that will go a long way to clear away the menace caused by the large number of women coming Makkah and Jeddah to prepare and sell unhealthy food to the pilgrims.
SIX: AIRLINERS
I can boldly say that one of the most easiest ways to have a successful hajj operation starts from the choice of the airline corporation undertaking the flight of the pilgrims. We are all aware of the serious set backs caused to the Hajj operation due to failure of the airliners to execute their responsibilities the way they should have done. This is not unconnected with the general situation in our dear country which is engulfed by chaos and maladministration in almost all the tires of government. Public positions, contract agreements, and their likes are hardly based on merit, rather on personal relations, connections, acquaintances and private interest, based on the material gain that will come of them, even in our so called religious duties. Any arrangement is deemed to fail if this moral side of our conduct is not put in order. Previous pilgrim authorities were wholly brought to their knees as a result of politicizing and personalizing the hajj operations with too much favoritism and corruption, and action on which various non Muslim organizations capitalized to call upon previous governments to stay away from Hajj and contribute nothing towards its operation, and aided by the biased media, they achieved what they wanted. (See: Hajj and the Nigerian Government, by Dr. Usman Muhammad Bugaje, and The Hajj and the Nigerian Economy 1960-1981, by O. E. Tangban).
The authorities are advised to look seriously into this issue and seek from the federal authorities that states should be given a say in choosing which airliner to contract with, and even then, take strong measures to ensure the airliners stick to the agreement contracted with them as to the effective flight of the pilgrims, days before the deadline usually fixed by the Saudi Authorities.
And, on a more serious note, after all pilgrims have completed their hajj rites, their minds usually turn home and become eager to be flown as soon as possible. Airliners should therefore be advised to embark on the return flights operation as soon as possible. They should be asked to forward their after-hajj flights schedule before the beginning of pre-hajj operations, as this will help in making things in order.
A high ranking committee should shoulder the responsibility of dealing closely with the concerned airliners and a constant and tireless follow up on all their activities should be made from time to time, such that anticipated mistakes, lapses and failures would be avoided before their occurrence. The committee should liaise with the federal hajj authorities concerned with Post-Hajj operations and acquaint themselves with minute details of all arrangements to do with their pilgrims. Leaving things to change themselves is an administrative failure that must be avoided, especially in emergency and field duties like hajj operation.
The pilgrims should be arranged to be flown back in the order they came before hajj. For example, the pilgrims who were able to come early and proceed to Madinah before hajj, must be flown first, while those who arrived after the entry into Madinah was closed on the 27th of Dhul Qa'dah and who proceeded directly to Makkah should be sent to Madinah after hajj, but this should be after practical return flights have really started, to avoid making them stay in Madinah more than the stipulated 8 days. A sound and continuous communication must be ensured between officials in Makkah and Jeddah and those in Madinah at this critical time, and it is advisable to station one official, at least, at the federal hajj office in Jeddah, two or more at the pilgrims camp in the airport .
The Saudi authorities are very much concerned of sending pilgrims to stay at airport camps for a long period before their flight schedules. It is therefore very important to have correct bookings and their dates fixed to the ticket of every pilgrim before leaving his home country. And this is not impossible if adequate arrangements are made before hand.
The Ministry of Hajj orders all establishment offices that in respect of those pilgrims whose departure dates were not fixed before coming to the Kingdom, the establishment office or its legal delegate must contact the airline agencies before going to Arafat in order to fix their departure dates.
The Ministry also orders the Dispatch Control Centres on the roads to check the passports and travel documents of all pilgrims, and that only those whose date of departure is due should be permitted to proceed to the airport.
Airline corporations are ordered to hand over a list of the names of all passengers on their flight to the Unified Agents' Office at the airport hajj terminal, along with the pilgrims passports containing the following data:
a) Full name of the pilgrim as per his passport
b) Nationality
c) Number, date, and place of issue of the passport
d) Date of departure.
Airline companies should never make a booking for any pilgrim against any date prior to his previously fixed date of departure except by a permission issued by the Ministry of Hajj after stating the reasons for this.
PILGRIMS LUGGAGE
In order to ease the tension of weighing pilgrims luggage at the airport immediately before their flight, arrangements should be made to ensure the weighing at Makkah immediately after hajj, more advisably on the 13th or 14th and on. This should be conducted by the airline companies in the presence of the pilgrims officials to ensure control and order.
For pilgrims to be able to come home along with their luggage the authorities should ensure that only planes with large capacities are hired by the airline companies. This is one of the main problems hindering the early arrival of pilgrims luggage in time or more precisely on the same flight with the pilgrim himself.
Another reason is the bulky nature of most of pilgrims' luggage. Pilgrims should be advised not to exceed the 40 kg limit, even if they would have to pay for the excess. Because wherever the excess is too much, the airline companies have no choice but to defer the flight of the luggage to a future date.
Where this level of control cannot be achieved, the pilgrims should be advised to divide their luggage into two (depending on how valuable the contents are to each of them): one that should not exceed the 40kg limit, which the airline companies should cooperate and make its flight together with the pilgrims. The other part which is considered excess will have to be flown in a special cargo plane which the pilgrim should know that it may take time.
Finally, the pilgrim, the hajj officials, the airline companies, and in fact all stakeholders should bear in mind that hajj operation is a religious duty on the conduct of which each and everyone of us will be called to account. We should aim at earning the pleasure of Allah through this hectic job, and may Allah increase us in faith, knowledge, piety, selflessness, humbleness and all that is good and make us successful in the hereafter as we wish to make our hajj successful in this world.
Wa sallallahu wa sallama wa Baraka ala Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'in.
Sources:
1. Qutbudden An-Nahrawani, Al-I'ilam Bi A'alam Bait Allah Al-Haram, pp. 70
2. Ayyub Sabri Basha, Mir'atul Haramain, pp. 1163
3. Ahmad As-Siba'I, Tarikh Makkah, vol. 2 p. 40; 200
4. Official Website of the Ministry of Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Instructions Regulating Pilgrimage Affairs: http://www.hajinformation.com/reports/instructions%20regulating%20pilgrimage%20affairs.pdf
5. Official Website of the Tawafah Establishment office of the African Non-Arab Countries: www.africa-sa.com , in Arabic (Makkah Al-Hajj Wat Tiwafah)
6. 'Ali ibn Rabee' Ar-Ruwaithy, Mu'assatut Tiwafah Fil Fiqhil Islami
7. Dr. Usman Muhammad Bugaje, Hajj and The Nigerian Government: Towards A Clear and Sustainable Policy on Hajj, http://www.webstar.co.uk/~ubugaje/main.shtml
8. O. E. Tangban (Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna), The Hajj and the Nigerian Economy 1960-1981, Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 21, Fasc. 3 (Aug., 1991), pp. 241-255, published by BRILL
Abubakar Muhammad Sani Birnin Kudu
Madinah, 22 Sha'aban 1429
23 August 2008
