After completing their Haj rituals amid an atmosphere of serenity and peacefulness, the pilgrims will start their journey back home from today (Tuesday). Their departure will continue until Sept. 15 when the Haj is officially declared over. According to the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Mohammed Saleh Bantin, the 2.5[…]
Despite some small hiccups, the mass exodus of pilgrims to the tent city of Mina went off well on Friday morning. The movement of hujjaj from Makkah and Azizia got off to a slow start after busses were delayed by two hours. According to the South African Hajj and Umrah[…]
More than two million Muslims begin the annual hajj on Friday as the Saudi hosts seek to deter politicisation of the pilgrimage against a backdrop of simmering Gulf tensions. The hajj, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, is one of Islam’s five pillars and must be undertaken by all[…]
‘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[…]
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