Lesser Hajj: An Encounter with Prince Khaled of Mecca
Pilgrims perform the religious obligation for personal spiritual upliftment and obedience to God. Nevertheless, some people embark on the pilgrimage for other reasons, such as high profile networking, politicking, commercial purposes and consolidation of matrimonial vows. There are instances where daring beggars sponsor their trips to the holy land in order to beg for alms. […]
Pilgrims perform the religious obligation for personal spiritual upliftment and obedience to God. Nevertheless, some people embark on the pilgrimage for other reasons, such as high profile networking, politicking, commercial purposes and consolidation of matrimonial vows. There are instances where daring beggars sponsor their trips to the holy land in order to beg for alms.
Considering the stressful and demanding nature of assignments as the spokesperson of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), I chose to go for the Umrah to seek solace in the presence of God and put behind me the pressure of attending to recurring natural and human-induced disasters such as floods, rainstorms, building collapse, bomb explosions and road accidents which also occur in other countries.
Initially, the Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, refused to grant my leave for the spiritual retreat, insisting that there were urgent emergencies that required physical interventions, relief distribution and advocacies on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). On Friday, August 19, 2011, after attending to such crucial assignments in some states, I flew to Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia.
An average of 15 million people visit Saudia Arabia annually and mostly for religious purposes although non-Muslims remain formally prohibited from entering the cities of Mecca and Medina. During my visit, about 5 million Muslims performed the Umrah who came from various backgrounds, colours and ethnicities, mainly from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa.
Saudis have transformed their towns surrounded by mountains in the desert into modern mega cities. Developers continuously embark on gargantuan projects, multi-storey hotels, restaurants, mega shopping plazas and luxury apartments. There are no signs of penury but a rich cultural heritage and splendid infrastructure: beautiful landscapes, memorable monuments, good road networks, functional factories and highly receptive people. The cities, brightly illuminated due to constant electricity supply; yet potable water gushes out of the taps in torrents from a desert country; almost all places have cooling systems due to the hot temperature.
Accommodations are available for the pilgrims ranging from leading luxury hotels to cheaper apartments as well as free spaces for those who would rather stay in the mosques for continuous prayers. The security personnel and volunteers courteously control a traffic of massive crowds and are so helpful guiding pilgrims. Due to the strict Shari’a law that provides harshest punishments for offenders, cases of stealing, robbery, kidnapping, hostage-taking and immoral behaviours are strange words here as shops are left open during praying periods.
Having put Nigeria behind me, I was in the grand mosque of Mecca on August 26, 2011 being the last Friday of the Ramadan. The inner and outer parts of the mosque had over a million pilgrims in attendance being a unique spiritual day. As the Imam uttered the ‘Salam alaikum’ to end the noon prayers, I received an emergency call about an explosion in the United Nations (UN), House in Abuja, Nigeria. Text and email messages inundated my mobile set from representatives of foreign media in Nigeria, especially the CNN, Reuters, AP, Blomberg, BBC among others who always like to authenticate information from reliable sources. As a public relations practioner, I was in touch with NEMA officials in Abuja for updates as I also issued press releases through my mobile phone.
In the evening, I received a text message from the NEMA boss who had arrived Mecca in the company of the Nigerian delegation led by the Vice President, Namadi Sambo. Sani-Sidi asked me to meet him at the Makkah King’s palace where the Nigerian’s delegation was hosted by the government of Saudi Arabia.
By the time we met at the magnificent palace, editors from Ibadan-based Nigerian Tribune newspapers had called to enquire about NEMA’s rescue efforts over devastating floods ravaging the city of Ibadan, Oyo State due to heavy rainfall. After discussing the twin-tragedies that occurred in Nigeria within a day, the NEMA boss decided to return to Nigeria with any available flight immediately, so as to coordinate the rescue efforts and relief interventions. Not ready to sacrifice my spiritual retreat, I requested to remain behind and conduct any further assignment online.
At about 12 midnight, Muslims had once again jam-packed the holy Kaaba where it would be difficult for ordinary mortals to pass through the mammoth crowd of pilgrims into the mosque. There is a Mosque overlooking the Masjid al-Haram (The Sacred Mosque) and the Kaaba at the topmost floor of the Makkah King’s Palace where the royals, presidents and other top delegations across the globe hosted in the palace observe their prayers. Being a visitor at the right time, I went to the floor and sat at a strategic position waiting for the commencement of prayers that usually takes about 3 hours of intermittent standing, bowing, prostration and sitting in supplication.
A few minutes before the rigorous spiritual exercise, a young boy of about 10 years came and with humility, requested from a man beside me if he could spare a space for an old man. The feeble looking old man, whom I presumed to be his grandfather, limped to my side with the support of a walking stick.
The old man used his walking stick as support throughout the duration of the strenuous and energetic prayers through standing, prostration and sitting for more than two hours. Immediately after the prayers, I asked the old man who had early offered me drinking water why he must stand throughout the session rather than sit when it is permitted in Islam for the weak to pray in whatever position that is convenient for them.
He politely replied that “when it comes to serving God, you do it with all strength and faith.”
I responded: “I admire your strong heart and faith at your advanced age and your ability to go through the prayers as I could sense the pain you went through.”
Amazed at his flawless English, I asked where he learnt to speak fluently. He replied that he schooled in Britain more than 30 years ago. We chatted about adulteration of language, especially Arabic due to civilisation. We discussed the use of scientific technology to resolve moon-sighting for Ramadan period. He emphatically told me that the Ramadan fast in Saudi Arabia would be 29 days rather than a full month of 30 days. When I raised the issue of the significance of the internet as a modern tool for communication and information gathering, he pointed out that he was reluctant to be an internet freak because it could be addictive and distractive from natural norms of interaction and communication. He further added that he got the information he wanted from reliable channels and sources. The disclosure made me realise the reason most of the hotels in Mecca and Medina do not give priority to the use of the internet as telephone and Fax are mostly their tools for communication.
As we were chatting, I could see some guests at the side waiting to see him. He was comfortable and at ease during our discussions and even asked for my name and whether I could visit him in Jeddah after the Ramadan fasting. After taking my name, I simply ask him: “What is your name?”
He replied thus: “Khalid!”
I said casually: “Thanks Mr Khalid.”
He asked one of his aides, Ahmed Saleh, to give me his numbers.
After he left with his guests, I asked the aide, Ahmed Saleh: “Who is that old man?”
The aide replied: “You had just spoken to Prince Khaled Alfaisal, the Emir and Governor of Mecca.”
I was very shocked; I rushed to my hotel room and goggled his name. The picture of the same old man appeared with his quite impressive profile.
So, an Arab Sheik and royal prince could be so simple, unassuming and compassionate! That encounter proved to me that among princes, Khaled is a noble and humble person who demonstrates the equality of men before God.
Shuaib is of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)