Assalamualaykum Please advise if the article below is correct:
Shaykh Abdul Raheem says:
“Yet again Another huge tragedy!! Nearly 1000 die in the state of ihram. No one likes sudden death. We wish it would have never happened. We pray it never happens again.
The blame game is going on. Iranians blame the Saudees for mismanagement. The Saudees blame the pilgrims for not following the timetable.
What timetable?? There is no timetable. People leave for jamaraat as they feel convenient. That’s the way it should be.
There should be proper routes and proper exits. There should not be barricades and restrictions everywhere. People should be able to move freely.
In London, UK, we have a population of over 7 million, where 2.5 million move around in the underground/subway, everyday. Never do we hear any such tragedy.
It’s high time the Saudees learnt a lesson in managing things. Things are not improving. Hotel prices are sky high. Haj is getting more and more expensive all the time. There is no bus station or train or tube in Makkah Mukarramah. We have to rely on old vehicles.
People shouldn’t blame the Hujjaj. Hujjaj are the easiest people to manage. Few teenagers can control thousands. The Hujjaj don’t drink alcohol. They are not hooligans. They just come here for worship and to seek the pleasure of the Almighty.
The only thing a haji wants, is to do everything quickly. Hastening is in the nature of human beings. Nobody likes waiting for ages. And the waiting game is what seems to be on the rise. People are kept waiting behind barricades and are sometimes ill-treated by the authorities. Many are man-handled.
In this tragedy, many reasons are mentioned. 1, Narrow roads. Plus, three roads merging into one.
2, Wheelchairs. No special route for disabled people. People tripping over and hurting themselves, and then piling on top of one another.
3, Vehicle standing in the middle of the road and people trying to navigate their way around it.
4, Hard heartedness of the guards in tents along the roads where the incident happened. They wouldn’t let anyone in their huge marquees, if they had done so, many lives could have been saved.
Mina needs a double or triple story accommodation. Wider roads. Emergency exits. Separate wheelchair routes.
Another main reason is that Haj is no longer seen as khidmah, it’s seen as a business. When it was a service, the muallaims used to treat the hujjaj like guests. Allah’s protection was with them. There was lack of facilities in those days, but incidents were scarce and on a smaller scale. Since it’s been dealt with as business, the special hifazat from Allah seems to have deserted and we are witnessing more tragedies on higher scale.
I hope the authorities take heed before it’s too late. They should not treat Haj as a burden over their shoulders. Rather they should think of it as a privilege, and treat hujjaj like special guests.
It feels like hujjaj are feeling hard done and they are getting scared from Haj, and it is possible that, due to frustration, people stop coming here, and that would be the ultimate tragedy. Allah forbid.” (End of article)
OUR COMMENT
The article is basically correct, But from the Islamic perspective it is extremely shallow and misses the points of reality in entirety. The main point has been missed by the Shaikh. He has failed to understand that what has happened is the Athaab of Allah Azza Wa Jal. There are no accidents in Allah’s Scheme and Command. The Qur’aan Majeed states:
“By Him are the keys of the Ghaib (the unseen and the unknown, i.e. to us) None is aware of it, but He. He knows what is in the oceans and on the land. Not a leaf drops (from a tree) but He is aware (i.e. by His direct intervention and command). There is not a seed in the darkness of the earth (underground), nor anything moist or dry, but it is recorded it a Clear Book.” “Not a grain is hidden from your Rabb in the earth nor and the heavens, Nor anything smaller or bigger than it, but it is recorded in a Clear Book.”
The Mu’min should understand that whatever has happened, does happen and will happen, is the effect of Allah’s direct intervention and command. Undoubtedly, there are secondary causes to which occurrences in creation are attributed, but uppermost in the mind of the intelligent and obedient Mu’min is the incontrovertible fact of Allah Azza Wa Jal being fully in charge and being the First and Actual Cause of everything.
The secondary cause for the recent disasters in Makkah and Mina is the gross, flagrant and immoral transgressions and sins of the Saudi regime and of the ‘Hujjaj’ and the Ummah in general. As long as Muslims indulgence in their orgies of fisq and fujoor (sin, immorality, obscenity and porno-cults and cultures), the Athaab of Allah Azza Wa Jal will be incremental until the point of total annihilation is reached. What has happened are mere Warnings from Allah Ta’ala of greater disasters to befall us.
When Allah’s decree is announced, worldly systems regardless of the boodle and technology that go into the massive infrastructure of control and supervision will avail as Zul Qarnain said on the occasion of having completed the great steel barrier to block the predatory incursions of Ya’jooj and Maj’ooj:
“This (technological achievement) is the Rahmat (Mercy) of my Rabb. Thus, when comes the Promise of my Rabb, He shall flatten it (the great steel barrier). And, the Promise of my Rabb is the Haqq (Truth).”
If for a moment we leave out the Divine Factor, then while it is correct to say that the Saudi regime is to be blamed, the Hujjaaj cannot be exculpated from blame. They act like donkeys. On the one hand we have the donkeys of the Saudi regime, and on the other hand, the pilgrim donkeys – donkeys fighting donkeys. There is absolutely no justification for the stampede of the donkeys even if there had been no rules and systems in place, and no security forces to supervise and control the crowds.
Muslims are supposed to go to Makkah for ibaadat, not to acquit themselves like donkeys and mules, crushing to death human beings underfoot. Allah Ta’ala has endowed Insaan with sound Aql which sets him apart from donkeys. But, these people choose to act and react like donkeys.
If a problem develops, Aql should direct that everyone should halt and remain standing in their places until the donkey authorities send their donkey guards and donkey security men to sort out the problem. The problem is not lack of systems. The problem is that a regime with donkey brains is in charge of the systems, and juhala with donkey brains are the ‘pilgrims’. The shaikh is far off the mark.
15 Zil Hajj 1436 – 29 September 2015