15.12.2013 Spiritual and the real
‘Allah, Ka’aba aur Banda’ is not simply a travelogue, it is an essential guide for Hajj pilgrims and policymakers
Shahzada Irfan Ahmed
The book titled ‘Allah Kaaba aur Banda’ is a unique travelogue written by Dr Asif Mahmood Jah who went to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage and while there documented all his worldly and spiritual experiences in a highly appealing manner. The narrative is candid and fascinating, transporting the readers to the venue which the writer is describing.
Those who have been to Makkah and Madina for pilgrimage earlier have an urge to return and observe what they had missed. The minute details mentioned by the author surprise even the regular visitors to the holy land who are all praise for his strong sense of observation.
Dr Asif points out that around three million Muslims perform Haj every year. He observes pilgrims of different nationalities and ethnicities and concludes their behaviour has a lot to do with their origins.
And those who haven’t been there cannot resist the temptation of flying to that part of the world. It would not be an over-statement if one says this travelogue is a must-read for all those who are planning to go to Saudi Arabia for Haj or Umra. The reason simply is that this book discusses almost all the issues that confront or may confront pilgrims, starting from their departure to their arrival in Saudi Arabia till the completion of the pilgrimage and their return to their homeland.
For example, the author warns the intending pilgrims of fraudulent activities of some private Hajj operators, penalties imposed by Saudi government on those carrying contraband items and narcotics, the risks of not getting vaccinated before embarking on the journey, the common diseases contracted by pilgrims, the problems related to health service delivery etc. He does not only identify the problems but gives solutions and suggestions as well.
This information is extremely important keeping in mind that a large number of Pakistani pilgrims embark on this journey in their old age. They have slow reflexes, problems with mobility, difficulty in communicating with Saudi officials and sometimes serious health issues. This is in total contrast to pilgrims coming from Indonesia where people try to perform Hajj before they are married off.
Dr Asif claims the content of the book is relevant to many and has an impact on readers. The reason is that he has written the book in real time while making all these observations and depended less on his memory. To make the message clear and far-reaching, he has identified various characters and described different situations through them.
Another distinctive feature of this travelogue is that is not merely a narration of events and description of scenes in a chronological order. In fact, it discusses things in their context, traces the history of various religious traditions, recreates the events of pre-Islamic era and those during and after the times of the Prophet (SAW) through imagination, makes comparisons between older and modern times and discusses the philosophy of Hajj. He also tries to find out how much pilgrims gain from performance of this religious ritual and what are the wrong attitudes and behaviours that make the whole exercise futile for many.
Dr Asif points it out in the travelogue that around three million Muslims perform Haj every year. They come from all over the world and behave differently. There are pilgrims from Pakistan, India, Turkey, Arab countries, Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and so on. He praises the Saudi government, the police and the armed forces for controlling the flow of events, arranging fool-proof security and managing such a huge population so efficiently.
He observes pilgrims of different nationalities and ethnicities and concludes their behaviour has a lot to do with their origins. There may be exceptions but he narrates in the book that in order to reach Hajre-e-Aswad and acquire a place in Riadh-al-Jannat, people wriggle through crowds and resort to pushing each other with full force.
He finds Pashtuns and Africans to be the most aggressive, followed by non-Pashtun Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis. On the other hand, he finds Indonesians, Malaysians, Nepalese and Turks totally harmless. They are calm and composed and polite and accommodating towards other pilgrims.
In this book, Dr Asif counts the difficulties encountered by pilgrims during their stay in Makkah and Madina and gives suggestions to pre-empt them. He also shares his personal experiences of dealing with pilgrims who suffer from cold and flu, bronchial diseases and stomach disorders. Being himself a medical doctor, he explains reasons why these diseases spread during Hajj and how he provided free medical treatment to the affected pilgrims, and distributed medicines amongst them.
He regrets some people are shamelessly involved in negative activities in the name of facilitating pilgrims. For example, he says, there are tour operators and travel agents whose attitude totally changes once they have pocketed money from intending pilgrims. They forget the promises they had made and leave the pilgrims in the lurch. His point is that while it is the duty of the state to take them to task, the clients should also know how to distinguish the genuine service providers from the non-genuine ones.
He tells the adventurous pilgrims that there are more than 1300 steps to Ghar-e-Hira (The Cave of Light). However, he soothes them by saying that many Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and people from Africa have established their shops along the path. The pilgrims can take rest there and purchase juices or hot cups of tea.
His description of how the car he was travelling in achieved great speed in Wadi-e-Jinn (Valley of Djinns), with engines switched off, fascinates the readers a lot. They keep wondering whether djinns push the car with great force or it’s the magnetic field at work.
Being a senior civil servant who has a lot of charity and relief work to his credit, Dr Asif knows where the problems lie at policy level and what are the major issues related to awareness and service delivery in Pakistan. He has made such issues a premise of this book in context of Hajj management and participation of Pakistanis in this religious ritual.