The Nostalgia Of Performing Hajj From Qatar

Mohamed Hammam Fikri People of Qatar never stopped recalling their memories of Hajj, for the rituals had always been present in their hearts and minds. The...

Mohamed Hammam FikriPeople of Qatar never stopped recalling their memories of Hajj, for the rituals had always been present in their hearts and minds. They were confident in their return to the House of God to perform the religious duty, and now they are looking forward avidly to visit the holy place once again.With the announcement by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to grant permits to perform Umrah and prayers in the Grand Mosque, and that people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine since the beginning of Ramadan this year can visit the Prophet’s Mosque, and in light of the preparations to host Hajj, pilgrims this year are facing unprecedented challenges – both in terms of the need to follow the precautionary measures through modern technology, and in terms of taking individual responsibility to preserve the health and public safety of pilgrims amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.The challenges facing today’s pilgrims will be a memory for future generations, just as the challenges of yesterday’s pilgrims have become a memory we now recall.In this context, we have collected in the book ‘The Hajj from Qatar’s Past: A Collection of Memories’ (Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press, 2020) a number of narrations told by Qataris from different generations, recalling their memories of Hajj. Some of them are related to the preparations that preceded the Hajj journey, and some are related to memories of the road, its troubles, and the difficulties they faced on the way back and forth, until they returned safely to their home and families, as if they were reborn once again to live moments of joy by meeting family and loved ones after God blessed them to perform this great duty.People of Qatar used to welcome Hajj season with the advent of the Holy Month of Ramadan every year. Youssef bin Abdul Rahman Al-Khulaifi describes to us the atmosphere of Ramadan, saying: “With the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan, there were reflections of an overwhelming generosity and giving, joy spread and filled the air, people opened their doors and welcomed the poor to their Iftar table with an open heart and shared their food with the needy. As nights of the blessed month were commemorated with prayers to God and reading Qur’an, people gathered in one of their houses to recite and complete reading the full. By the first day of Eid when they have completed their Qur’an reading; the owner of the house gets rewarded for turning his house into a mosque and hosting people in it, as well as the guests for listening to the Qur’an.” At the end of the month, it is the time for those intending to perform Hajj to prepare for it. This is when visits from family and relatives become frequent, and the elderly are keen to write their wills, and entrust them with God, as they never knew when their hour might come, and so they are prepared in case they don’t return home safely. The first step begins with the pilgrim paying the contractor the costs of his trip, then the contractor takes care of all the travel arrangements and sets the departure date. Hajj caravans begin to gather in a square in Doha, near the Amiri Diwan at Al Koot fort. Where the pilgrims flock from the outskirts of the country, at this point pilgrims feel their spiritual journey had started, and in between dawn (Fajr) and noon (Duha) prayers they become fully prepared, so the contractor starts to lead the way and announces the beginning of the journey by land towards ‘Salwa’.On the way, many other pilgrims’ convoys join them, some of which are for well-off Qataris. The convoy continues on its path until it reaches Abu Samra on the Saudi border. Some of those saying goodbye to pilgrims accompany them to the checkpoint and, when the pilgrims cross the border, they return to Doha.In Abu Samra, the Saudi authorities verify pilgrims’ papers and health vaccination cards, and perform a safety check for pilgrims - except for women - in honor of them. It was applied until the early 1980s.Hajj contractors were aware of the best roads leading to the holy sites; they knew which roads to take, and usually the availability of wells and food were the main criteria which determined the preferred roads, in addition to their safety, as travelling on camels required an extensive knowledge of routes to avoid dangerous situations, such as being robbed of money and belongings by bandits. In all cases, there were many stops for rest along the road, which provided pilgrims with food and drinks. They used to take the postal road, or what was known as Darb al-Saai, and in summer they walked at night to avoid the heat of the sun and took rest at sites where water was available. They walked for three days and rested for one or two days, and so on. People experienced everything through this journey: sickness, death, and even birth.Camels remained the only method for Qataris to perform Hajj until the beginning of the 1930s, from Doha to Salwa to Hofuf, Al-Ahsa, Riyadh, Mecca, and back by the same route.In case of any danger on the land route, people from the Gulf used to perform pilgrimages through sea on ships that sailed to Pompeii, then Jeddah, passing through Abu Shahr, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai, Bandar Abbas, Muscat, and Karachi. The duration of the trip to Pompeii was 10 days, followed by a stay of over a week, awaiting the ships departing to Jeddah’s port, passing by Oman, then Mukalla, Aden and Berbera on the African coast, and finally reaching Jeddah after a 10-day journey. They often suffered from nausea and diseases they never knew about before.As for travelling to Hajj by car, the fare during the 1940s was about one hundred riyals. The owner of the car took the pilgrims in a two-floor lorry, where the upper floor was allocated to men and the women took the lower floor. In the 1960s, I remember cars used to take three days or even more from Riyadh to Hijaz, depending on the roughness of the road, where a lot of cars broke down along the journey.During the reign of Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani, the fourth ruler of Qatar in the period from 1949-1960, pilgrims’ centers were opened for the first time on the edge of Doha. It was a point of assembly for pilgrims before they start their journey. Along the way, mosques were built and services provided, and it was all supervised by Sheikh Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Ansari and other sheikhs.Since 1957, the Qatari Department of Medical Services and Public Health has been sending a medical mission every year to the Holy Land during Hajj, in order to contribute together with the rest of the Islamic countries in their efforts to provide full medical care for pilgrims. The mission works in Mecca, Medina, Mina and Arafat, and it performs checkups for pilgrims from all over the world.With the inauguration of Qatar Radio, it used to send its own reporter with the Hajj mission to cover the pilgrims news, and record their messages to their families. Later on, television and newspapers joined the mission, to fully cover the Hajj news.In the 1970s, the mission established a new system related to Hajj affairs, standardizing the prices of contractors, and registering pilgrims at the mission headquarters. It also arranged housing with the contractor, to include water, electricity, fans, and ensuring that the building was appropriate and safe for their stay. It also stipulated that they should raise the flag of Qatar on all the housing of Qatari pilgrims, and this made it easier for them to visit to check on each other.Upon their return, pilgrims were always celebrated for completing this religious ritual safely. People would raise the flags in their homes called ‘Al-Nushur’ to inform others that the owner of the house was performing Hajj, and then they awaited their arrival to greet and congratulate them on their safe return. When the return of pilgrims approached, people gave sacrifices to rejoice at their return, and feasts were held to celebrate this occasion in the house of the leader of this Hajj journey, where they would give souvenirs and celebrate with them.It is absolutely impossible to compare the pilgrimage in the past with now, after the huge technological revolution of security, services, means of transportation, roads and travel, which have spared a lot of time and efforts. A journey that took months in the past now is performed in a few days. Indeed, each time in history of Hajj holds special and eternal memories.(Mohamed Hammam Fikri, Author, and Heritage & Rare Books Advisor at QNL)