‘Please stand in front and lead us in Salaah,’ I requested of Akbar* (*not his real name). We had congregated in large prayer hall in a hotel in Azizya just outside Makkah. It was a few days before Hajj and the hotel had over two hundred pilgrims housed in it,[…]
This forms part of a series by Dr Salim Parker. More stories can be found at www.hajjdoctor.co.za He was found lying in the garage, with a bullet wound to his head. A gun was next to him. No crime was suspected, and an autopsy was performed as it was clearly[…]
The following is part two of last month’s article. More stories can be found at www.hajjdoctor.co.za I first met her at the airport as we were to depart for Hajj. Her smiling demeanour belied the thin and frail body ravaged by terminal cancer. She sat in her wheelchair and was[…]
The Grand Mosque in Makkah is overflowing with pilgrims who have come to the Kingdom from various parts of the world for the journey of a lifetime which begins on Aug. 19. About 1.4 million pilgrims arrived till Sunday, according to the Directorate General for Passports. A total of 1,301,912[…]
By Dr Salim Parker Hajj is Arafat. Arafat is the closest that we mere mortals ever get to our Creator, the day when we are in our Ihram, which resembles the cloth than we adorn once we depart this world. It is the day when Allah smiles on his worshipping[…]
Hajj doctor Salim Parker pens his latest hajj story. Read more at hajjdoctor.co.za ‘What would you do if you get lost during Hajj?’ she asked her father. This conversation took place before he and her mother were to depart for Hajj. The couple were supposed to have performed the most[…]
This forms part of a series of hajj stories written by South African hajj doctor, Salim Parker. More articles can be found at www.hajjdoctor.co.za The first day of Hajj and millions made their way to Mina from Makkah in the days when there were no restrictions on numbers. Most walked[…]
With temperatures rising to some 45 degrees, hujjaj this year are said to have experienced a challenging haj. Dr Salim Parker, well known as South Africa’s hajj doctor, says that given the fact that hujjaj maintain a mind-set that allows them to tolerate the heat, most South African hujjaj remained[…]
Over two million pilgrims on Sunday entered their second Tashriq day during which they continued throwing stones at the devil for the second day and left for Makkah to do Tawaf Al-Wada (farewell circumambulation) and prepare either to go to Madinah or leave for home. The Haj will be officially[…]
After a spiritually intense day on the plains of Arafat, Hajj pilgrims returned to Mina on Friday, the first day of Eid. Making their way from Muzdalifa where they spent most of the night, 2 million pilgrims will undertake a number of rituals to complete their Hajj pilgrimage. Walking on[…]
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