LIFEPULSE 20 THURSDAY JANUARY 4, 2007 CHINA DAILY Murphy’s Law drives me ‘I cried at sight of the Kaaba’ totally crazy The largest-ever HOT POT haj has come to an end in Mecca, with nearly 10,000 PATRICK WHITELEY Chinese Muslims A 100-question knowledge test is the foreigner’s gateway to a Chinese undertaking the driver’s licence, but the all-impor- tant paperwork needs to be in order. holy pilgrimage. For impatient “need-it-now” novic- Mu Qian es, this paper trail can lead to many reports dead-ends. If you want a ticket to ride in the Middle Kingdom, heed from Mecca the words of someone who has been there and failed that. n estimated 2.5 mil- I always live by Murphy’s Law. If lion pilgrims from 187 something can go wrong, it will. The countries and regions glass is not half full, or half empty, undertook the haj, from it’s poisoned. This attitude makes December 28, 2006 to living in China a sheer delight, be- AJanuary 1, 2007, making it the larg- cause most things go unexpectedly est-ever such gathering to date. right. When they don’t, I am ready In the time of Muhammad, there for it. My driving ambition, however, were no fl ights to bring haj pilgrims had Murphy stamped all over it. to Mecca in just a few hours, and pil- The checklist includes: passport, grims did also not have to deal with residence permit, original driver’s the logistics and security problems licence, medical certifi cate, and fi ve posed by the more than 2 million haj photographs. Get the photos fi rst. I pilgrims today. went to the hospital for my medical Now, while the waters of the Za- certifi cate fi rst only to be sent away mzam well — which Muhammad led to get the photos. his followers to drink — is provided The 2.5cmx2.5cm happy snaps by Mecca’s hotels to their patrons, must have white backgrounds. I pilgrims have to suffer the exhaust chose blue, because it was my favor- fumes from cars as they gather in ite color, but this was a time-wast- Muzdalifah as part of the haj. ing mistake. Also take note of photo Chinese pilgrims take pictures of themselves in Mecca after performing size. This is not passport size, it is The fi rst sight the haj, considered a Muslim’s most holy duty. Photos by Mu Qian smaller. Got this wrong too. In more than 1,300 years, the haj has Take one picture to a hospital or never been an easy trip for Muslims. “I have been praying towards the census in 2000. The earliest record doctor, for the medical certifi cate. The Every year, there are people who die of Kaaba all my life. Now I have seen it of Chinese Muslims’ haj dates back eye chart features the capital Es in natural or other causes during the haj, with my own eyes and even touched to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In different sizes and positions on dif- but this has not deterred more pilgrims it,” said Jia. “No words can describe recent years, the number of Chinese ferent lines. The color vision test in- from all over the world following in the that feeling.” haj pilgrims has grown rapidly. volves distinguishing between green footsteps of their prophet. Yang Zongren, 53, from Northwest Among the Chinese, haji pilgrims and red within mosaic patterns. Among the 2.5 million pilgrims China’s Gansu Province, said he also include not only people from the 10 The next step is the foreign were 9,785 Muslims from China who cried at the Kaaba, even though this Muslim ethnic groups in China, like offi ce of the branch of the traffi c will now add the title “Haji” to their was his third haj since 1994. In 2000, Hui and Uygur, but also believers of administration department of public names, to indicate that they have com- he performed the haj again with his the Islamic faith from other ethnic security. At the counter, a traffi c pleted the haj, considered a Muslim’s father, who was in his 70s then and groups. police offi cer asks me to write my most important duty. has since died. This time, he was ac- Twenty Tibetan Muslims performed token Chinese name in Chinese. “At the fi rst sight of the Kaaba, I felt companied by his wife. the haj this year, led by Ali, an imam I had never done this before, and so exhilarated that I cried,” said Jia “Haj is a mission assigned to us by from the Grand Mosque of Lhasa. struggle, but write Bai Li Cheng Haicheng, 65, from Northwest China’s Allah,” said Yang. “If Allah wills, I Though the majority of Tibetans be- (White-ley honestly). Qinghai Province. will come again.” lieve in Tibetan Buddhism, around I book my test and have two weeks Kaaba is the holy shrine in Mecca There are more than 20 million 5,000 Tibetans have converted to Pilgrims make their home in tents during their stay in Mecca. to study the road rules. The rules towards which all Muslims pray. Muslims in China, accounting Islam, mainly in Lhasa, Shigatse book cannot be purchased at this Pilgrims begin and end their haj by for about 1.5 percent of the total and Chamdo. to greet other Muslims from different completed, the bridge will be able to offi ce. The only place in Beijing to circling the Kaaba seven times. population, according to the national “To perform the haj is more effec- countries and cultural backgrounds. accommodate more than 4 million buy the exam reference manual is the tive than studying the texts,” said “Muslims from all over the world pilgrims. FESCO offi ce, in the Beijing CBD. Amannula, 56, who was in Mecca feel like brothers and sisters when “Before I came, both my family and I take a 50-yuan ($6.4) taxi ride One of ‘Five Pillars of Islam’ with his wife from Lhasa. “When I we say ‘as-salaamo alaykum’,” said I were worried about possible danger and buy the 150-yuan ($19) book. saw Muslims from all over the world Zhang. “For further communication, during the ‘Stoning of the Devil’ rite,” It has 1,000 questions about laws, Haj literally means “to set out for seven times; and the sa’y, or walking gathering in Mecca, I realized the we used signs.” said Jia. “Now, I feel safe.” signs, highway driving, penalties, a place”. In Islam, it refers to the seven times back and forth between greatness of Islam.’’ Chinese pilgrims performed all The Prophet Muhammad said that accident procedures, licence details, annual pilgrimage that Muslims the hills of Safa and Marwah. Though the haj cost Amannula and the prescribed rituals of the haj, if a pilgrim completed the haj without safety, fi rst aid and guidelines for make to Mecca to perform certain These rituals comprise the his wife about 60,000 yuan ($7,700), such as walking seven times back breaking any of the rules, he or she “civil” behaviour. I have to under- religious rites in accordance with the Umrah or the Lesser Haj. When he said he felt lucky to have the and forth between the hills of Safa would be like a new-born baby after stand Chinese road sign characters method prescribed by the Prophet the haj begins on the eighth day of chance to do this duty. and Marwah, staying at the fi eld of returning home. for goodness sake, and I can’t even Muhammad. the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, pilgrims While Muslims from the Arab Arafat, and the symbolic “Stoning of “Most Hajis become more devoted, write my name. Then there are Haj is one of the Five Pillars of leave Mecca for the nearby town of world prayed in the Arabic language, the Devil”. All of the men wore the but it still depends on the individual,” questions like this: When other Islam. Every able-bodied Muslim Mina, where they spend the rest of prayers in various other languages ihram, which is simply two pieces of said 26-year-old Haji Ma Chengjun drivers correct you, you should: who can afford to do so is obliged the day. could also be heard. Many Chinese seamless white cloth. from Qinghai. “It’s more important (a) learn modestly and accept the to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at The next morning, they leave pilgrims said they prayed in Chinese, “By wearing the ihram, you put to keep practicing the tenets of Islam opinion seriously; least once in his or her lifetime. Mina for the plain of Arafat, where Tibetan and Uygur. aside your secular life for a while, and even after performing the haj.” (b) not listen, and According to the doctrine of Islam, they spend the afternoon praying, “I can say Islam’s daily prayers in this is like a cleansing of the mind,” In the past, it used to be very (c) accept but not try to improve. haj and its rites were fi rst ordained talking to God, and thinking about Arabic, but prayers for the haj were said Zhang. “The sight of everybody diffi cult for Chinese Muslims to un- On Australian roads, a driver’s by Allah in the time of the Prophet the course of their lives. After sun- too long for me to remember,” said in the same simple ihram, regard- dertake the haj because of the long correction sounds like this.