Saturday 14 December 2013

The Social Side of Hajj


Hajj is one of the basic fundamental principle of Islam, and at least once in their lifetime every Muslim should perform it. Like every religious duty, this also has many interesting social aspects attached to it. Everybody from my family, from my late parents to my elder brother and his wife have been on Hajj, except me! So, I cannot talk about the ritualistic aspects related with Hajj, but interesting social situations around it.
Great and Little traditions of Islam, the local Islam and what the 'religion' prescribes one to do, can sometimes be very different.

Social conventions start when people start congratulating (with a dabba of sweets) those who apply for Hajj pilgrimage (supported by state run Hajj Committee), and find their names on the Committee list.
The pilgrims then start their preparations for the 40-day long tour, and even start attending classes run by various groups like Tablighi Jamaat/ Hajj committee/ local Madarsas, etc.Hajj Manzil at Turkman Gate gets busy and crowded and roads around that area get traffic jams every year as a routine around this time of the year.
 In India, Hajj pilgrimage gets some subsidy from the government (something which BJP criticizes as 'minority appeasement', and scholars like Imtiaz Ahmad say it is too less, and should be done away with completely. As people who can afford it, should go on it paying for it entirely from their 'honest/ halal' earnings!).

 A few days prior to the pilgrimage, pilgrims start visiting their relatives and friends, etc. to ask for forgiveness for hurting them (knowingly/unknowingly) and try to clear any guilty conscience, and repair all broken relationships. The reason may well be historical, as in earlier times, people who went on a long and difficult journey like Hajj to Saudi Arabia, sometimes never even came back alive. As those friends/ relatives who do not get a visit from to be Hajjis, can also take offense at being ignored, so it is imperative for the Hajjis to visit or meet every important relative/ friend/ acquaintance etc. before they leave for the pilgrimage. 

 Couple of days before the actual trip, relatives/ friends/ acquaintances visit the homes of Hajjis with dry eatables, etc. so that it can help them deal with food issues in a foreign land (those who can afford eat in Indian/ Pakistani restaurants, etc.). Some get clothes, and other gifts too (sometimes useful, sometimes bizarre!) to help them in the journey. Also, all those who give gifts also have a list of 'duaas' that they want the Hajjis to pray for them (as they are nearer to Allah, and have more chances of getting their prayers accepted and answered!), or sometimes even list of things that they would like Hajjis to bring for them from the developed Middle East (simple give and take of gifts). A farewell feast is organized for the Hajjis and for their near family members and friends/ neighbors, etc.

 At the Delhi International airport, there is a separate Hajj terminal to deal with crowds who come to drop/ receive Hajjis. It is usually madness/ mayhem at the Hajj terminal.

Hajj Committe website says 170,025 seats for India for Hajj, (of which 125,025 seats for Hajj Committee of India (HCOI) and 45,000 for Private Tour Operators (PTOs)).

To drop one haji, buses full of enthusiasts come from far off areas as relatives get a free trip to Delhi and its airport (plus, sawab too!). Airport terminal becomes a carnival/mela, with lots of people and Biryani, nahari, qorma, halwa, pakora stalls! Hajj terminal gets volunteers from Tablighi Jamaat and Hajj Committee officials who help with paperwork and other routine things.

 Once, they go on Hajj everyone keeps asking from the family about their well-being at different stages of the journey.

 Once, they come back from the pilgrimage the scene at the airport gets worse. As, it is believed that those who meet pilgrims first after their Hajj get a lot of 'sawaab', so now the numbers double up with everybody getting emotional after meeting their loved ones after so many days.

 There is not just rush but a traffic jam on road around the airport in post- Hajj days (Muslims with car stickers shouting Hajj Mubarak on their cars/ buses).

Once, Hajjis reach their homes,a  feast is organized to welcome them back  with usual qorma, biryani (no, we do not get tired of eating these two favourite Mughlai dishes on every occasion, ranging from birth, or marriage to death!)
Hajjis again receive lots of  visits from friends/ family relatives/ neighbors who come to listen to Hajj stories, along with gifts for Hajjis as appreciation of their new 'respectable status', as Muslims who have washed away all their sins by bearing and overcoming the hardships of the pilgrimage and its different rituals. Poor pilgrims do not even get a chance to relax and everybody starts asking them for 'tabarruq' or dates and Zamzam, holy water from the Holy land.

Now, it is the duty of the Hajjis to re-pay for all the gifts that they had received from their 'well-wishers' apart from dates and zamzam. Also they have to  bring some authentic stuff from the Holy land, which could be janamaaz/ prayer mat, topi, tasbeeh, burqa, scarf, some also get electronics or watches, etc to give away as gifts.

People even get upset if they do not get gifts at par with what they had given to the Hajis pre- and post their pilgrimage. Although with hajjis, religiously speaking everything is attributed to gaining sawab, but it has interesting social  norms attached to it as well (and of course, there is a class thing too, as poor people cannot afford it!)

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