Extreme weather conditions in Mecca and its surroundings with a peak environmental temperature crossing over 48 °C on mercury scale in the day, and 35°C in the night. Even house flies and other insects find it almost impossible to thrive’ and everything else around appears as if set on combustion. But it does not prevent people from every corner of the globe to throng to Mina base camp and from Mina to Arafat and then to Muzdalifah. It is a sea of humanity that is not visible anywhere else in the world. More than 3.5 million people from all the continents of the world – men, women, young and senior citizens, irrespective of colour, creed, socio-linguistic and nationality backgrounds – most of them strangers to the city of Mecca and also to each other, but in high spirits with a soulful feeling of having been chosen for invitation to the Prophet’s land this year. Round about ninety kilometres having been covered by the delegates during the five Hajj days both by bus and on foot in scorching sun light and extremely hot climate, where every human life needs plenty of fluids to rehydrate body, which is amazingly made easily available in cold packed bottles, free of cost, and also through taps at every step. The miracle at the end is that there is no casualty because of overcrowding at the sites of like Jamarat. Since the crowd mis-management has been reduced to level zero by the authorities. No other occasion is witnessed for the world nations to provide a parallel to the Hajj in order to manifest in letter and spirit one world – one nation- one brotherhood; the international brotherhood. Here in the Prophet’s land every human being, rich and poor, elite or a commoner, ruler and the ruled, shuns ego; this to rise to the level of altruism. This I have experienced that how Islam is essentially attached to the teaching of global peace perspective through calling all human nations to the land of Ptophet (saw) – called the Hajj. The pilgrimage to Hajj is the torch bearer of universal peace and brotherhood. There is no Sunni and Shia here. There is no Hanafi and Shafi here. There is no Arab and non Arab here. There is no black and white here. All – Africans, Asians, Europeans, Americans, and Australians – forget their territorial affiliations and all are dressed in white – the dress of peace and humility. There is no denying the fact that Hajj congregation is purely based on spiritual emancipation but at the same time it disseminates a strong political message of Oneness of Humanity.
Muzaffar Shaheen is a faculty at SKUAST (K)
shaheenzaffar123@gmail.com