Away From the King, These Poor Men Fix Kaaba’s Haram
They are, however, employees of the King who heads the presidency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, because by tradition over the years, the King is the custodian of the two Grand mosques otherwise called Al-Haram in the holy cities of Makka and Madina. Al-Haram may be translated as the honourable or holy. The Al-Haram […]
They are, however, employees of the King who heads the presidency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, because by tradition over the years, the King is the custodian of the two Grand mosques otherwise called Al-Haram in the holy cities of Makka and Madina. Al-Haram may be translated as the honourable or holy.
The Al-Haram in Makka has inside it, the Holy Kaaba, while Al-Haram in Madina was built by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Prophet’s tomb along with some of his companions is located around the mosque’s exit to the east while metres away from the tomb is Raudha, regarded as a highly spiritual point for offering supplications within the mosque. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, the Al-Haram in Makka which is the focus here, covers an area of 356,800 square metres (88.2 acres) including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces (with other prayer spaces at the basement ground and roof) all of which can accommodate up to four million Muslim worshippers at peak periods mostly during the hajj rites or the night of 27th day of Ramadan, when worshippers fill the mosque to the brim to offer supplications in anticipation of the blessings of what is regarded as the greatest night- lailatul Qadr.
Though many scholars believe the night could appear in any of the odd days- 21, 23, 25, 27 and 29 within the last ten days of the Ramadan, people in Makka seem to focus more on the 27th night and certainly on that day, the cleaners of the grand mosque face their stiffest tasks. The size quoted by Wikipedia has likely been overestimated because based on some publications, the current custodian of the Grand mosque, King Abdallah, had in 2008, approved the acquisition of land and about 1,000 properties around Shamiya and Shubaika (areas close to the mosque) covering 300,000 square metres to expand the mosque with six billion riyals set aside for compensation only. Expansion works have been ongoing. The first major renovation to Masjid al-Haram was said to have taken place in 692. Late King Abdul Aziz led key expansion works and his son and successor, late King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, was said to have laid the foundation for a modernised grand expansion of the mosque which he continued until he died in 2007.
Expansion of the mosque definitely means more challenges for the hundreds of poor cleaners who already have to tidy up 2,130 toilets or more; 1,540 ablution units or more; 276 drinking fountains or more as well as thousands of giant coolers filled and re-filled with zam-zam water all of which require cleaning almost every minute due to services derived by pilgrims in their hundreds of thousands. Zam-zam is mostly sought for its spirituality because Muslims believe God ordained it to gush out from a desert, (thousands of years back). That desert is now the location of the mosque.
As large as the Al-Haram is with hundreds of thousands of people, the poor cleaners always keep every place clean from the interior to the outside, toilets, ablution units and drinking tunnels as well as around zam-zam coolers and this feat they just repeated weeks ago when nearly two million people (by estimate) converged to perform Umra in the month of Ramadan which ended in the second week of September, 2010.
There is no official figures about the number of the cleaners but they certainly appear to be in their hundreds because they are seen everywhere in their uniforms. Those in blue mostly carry out duties in the outdoor prayer spaces, they mop the tiles before and after every of the five daily prayers as well as before and after late night prayers, known as tahajjud, performed in the last ten days of the Ramadan, beginning 1:00 am and ending 3:00 am. The peak periods of their cleaning are after Iftar-breaking of fast and after Sahur- early morning feeding to commence the fast. Many pilgrims eat on the outdoor spaces and leave behind lots of dirt. The female wings are mostly littered with more garbage, with water sprinkled everywhere.
But immediately after magrib prayers, performed at the breaking of fast, the cleaners mobilise and troupe out to every part of the outdoor prayer points, some carrying tall-handled mops, others carrying water, others wheeling detergents while others drive motorcade dryers. Led by a supervisor wearing a white Arabian gown and holding a mobile radio phone, the cleaners carry a red rope which they use to capture areas to clean, and once their rope is extended, everyone gives way to them.
Another group pours water soaked with detergents on the marbled spaces, another in horizontal line, mops the floors and sometimes, in a humorous and callisthenic manner, chant words of caution to pilgrims. The group speedily clears the litter and push the dirt towards networked channels. Another group packs the solid garbage into large polythene bags while the motorcades drive on every portion that has been washed and moped and soon, the dried areas glitter like mirror.
What seemed remarkable was that these cleaning works are carried out simultaneously across the numerous out spaces round the mosque which has prayer direction in circles (the only one in the world with such) because the Kaaba which has its face at the middle, and what is required is to face it.
This is unlike every other mosque in the world in which no worshiper faces the Imam since everyone is behind, because the Qibla or direction of the Kaaba is east and the Imam stands in front. Also remarkable is that the entire cleaning is done in less than thirty minutes even though the cleaners work round the clock, some picking garbage, others standing with polythene bags or walking about to collate the garbage. The blue attired-cleaners also work in toilets and ablution units, all of which are underground around the outdoor spaces or uphill towards the Sayi area.
The cleaners in green uniforms mostly work in the indoor of the mosque. Their cleaning tasks are also tedious. They also contend with garbage since some pilgrims also eat inside the mosque. Others leave all manner of items, shoes, slippers etc. and perhaps to do their jobs quickly, the cleaners pack up every item they sight as garbage. Their cleaning exercise is same as what happens in the outdoor except that in the case of the interior, smaller motorcades are used to dry the marbled floors.
One amazing attribute of virtually all the cleaners is that they don’t seem to engage pilgrims, maybe, they are under some orders because some of them watch as some rather careless pilgrims mess up areas they just cleaned up, some even watch pilgrims performing ablution from drinking tunnels or zam-zam coolers, sprinkling water where they have just cleaned. The cleaners patiently wait for the culprits to conclude and they re-clean immediately, saying nothing. This applies to all the cleaners including those wearing brown uniforms who deal with filling and re-filling of zam-zam coolers to ensure constant availability of zam-zam water especially at the break of fast till 5:00 am when Subhi prayer is performed with fasting commencing shortly before it.
However, some pilgrims who seemed sympathetic to the cleaners often gave alms to them in cash- some riyals. Cleaners who stand in the midst of people with polythene bags, collecting rubbish are mostly given alms. Some stand inside the mosque complex, others move on the roof but the biggest beneficiaries seem to be those that stand close to the Kaaba (in green uniforms) while pilgrims ‘circumambulate’ or go round the sacred house seven times or repeatedly, in a form of worship called ‘Dawaf’. Perhaps, because the rite is mostly about offering supplications believed to attract Allah’s approval, some apparently see giving alms as a way of fast tracking the granting of their wishes since Allah has laid emphasis on helping the needy to get His mercies.
There are also some of the cleaners in yellow attires. They mostly clean roads leading to the Al-Haram, pilgrims also pray on the roads when there is high turnout. Mostly, when people are walking towards the mosque, the cleaners sort of suspend work, though having cleaned up, they stand at the middle with their implements and many passers give them alms. But one must also acknowledge the swiftness with which the cleaners pocket riyals handed them- the speed may equal the spread of light. Soon as riyals are handed them, the money vanishes into their pockets. A giver may on trying to take a second look, see the beneficiary’s hand empty and even begin to doubt if he or she (the giver) actually gave the beneficiary some change or not.
May be they don’t want the mosque’s authorities to see or maybe they just quickly secure what has come in. In any case, most pilgrims believe the cleaners deserve to be given alms. Some of them, especially the old ones who drive motorcades don’t look poor. In fact, they look confident on their motorcades and seem happy with what they are doing. But then, their collective patience, tolerance and kind of spiritually devoted to their cleaning jobs make them appear sort of downtrodden and many see them as needy who deserve help after all they don’t constitute a nuisance like other professional beggars who besiege some entrances to the grand mosque.
The cleaners are said to be employed through some companies contracted by government. Each employee, mostly from the Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, is said to be guaranteed by his country with documents made available to the Saudi government. Regardless of their nationalities, the cleaners are effective and one can be so amazed at the manner they swiftly respond when some supervising mosque officials show them any little water within or around the mosque to clean where the cleaners didn’t see.
With the increasing pilgrimage to the Al-Haram mosque, the work of the cleaners seem rather on the increase. The government seems to be doing everything possible on its part to change the mosque from what it used to be hundreds of years ago to become a reference point as an architectural masterpiece.
Islamic tradition holds that the mosque was first built by the angels before the creation of mankind, when God ordained a place of worship on earth to reflect the house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Ma’mur, “The Worship Place of Angels”). From time to time, the mosque was damaged by storms and was rebuilt. According to Islamic belief, it was built by Ibrahim (AS) or Abraham, with the help of his son Ismail (Ishmael). They were ordered by God to build the mosque and the Kaaba. Literally, Kaaba in Arabic means square house and it has four corners. In the eastern corner is the Hajr-al-Aswad (the black stone); at the northern corner is the Rukn-al-Iraqi (The Iraqi corner), at the west lies Rukn-al-Shami (The Syrian corner) and at the south Rukn-al-Yamani (The Yemeni corner). The four walls are covered with a curtain (Kiswah). The kiswa is usually of black brocade with the Shahada, the seal of Islamic belief outlined in the weave of the fabric. About three quarters of the way up runs a gold embroidered band covered with Quran text. The black stone is believed to be the only remnant of the original structure made by Abraham. The Islamic teaching specifically mentions that nothing is magical about the grand mosque except for the oasis zam-zam which has purportedly never dried ever since it was revealed. Muslim belief places the story of Ishmael and his mother’s search for water in the general vicinity of the mosque. In the story, Hagar runs between the hills of Safa and Marwa looking for water for her son, until God eventually reveals to her the zam-zam, from where water continues to flow non-stop to this day. The episode of Hagar’s search for water is emulated by Muslims as they run between the two hills of Safa and Marwah (located at the Sayi area of the mosque) as part of umra and hajj rites.
The whole building of the mosque is said to have been constructed out of the layers of grey blue stone from the hills surrounding Mecca, perhaps this explains why the edifice is grey in colour from outside and most part of the interior. The mosque is said to have about fifteen Imams led by Sheikh (Dr) Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais as Chief of Imams while Sheikh (Dr) Saud Al-Shuraim, a Judge in Mecca High Court; Deputy Chief of Imams. The list also includes Sheikh (Dr) Salih Bin Abdullah Al-Humaid who is Chairman, Saudi Majilis Al-Shura amongst others. The Imams are said to have a set timetable which decides who leads which prayer in the mosque and hence they know in advance.
The grand mosque is said to have about 13 Mu’azims who call prayers and repeat what the Imams say in loud voices to guide worshippers in prayers.
But while many worshippers enjoy the appealing tones of the Imams as they recite portions of the Quran during prayers as well as the commanding voices of the mu’azims, the cleaners of the Al-Haram postpone their prayers to provide services to the congregation because to them, a second off duty could mean a pile of garbage especially given the thunderous population of Muslims who grace the mosque to have the rare privilege of being around the holy Kaaba.