Journey of a Lifetime

The fifth pillar of Islam is making the pilgrimage to Makkah to perform the manasik (rites) of Hajj at their appointed times during the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah. During the Hajj Muslims, male or female, prince or pauper, implores their Lord to forgive their sins and mistakes, and beseech Him to answer and fulfil their dreams, hopes and ambitions.

Many people are preparing physically, mentally and emotionally to make this great journey. Some will be going for the very first time, while others will desire to see the glorious Ka’ba once more to connect with their Creator and Sustainer and ask Him to bestow barakah in their life.

In the past the route from India to Hajj, for example, was a perilous journey; a person had to walk on foot for months crossing life threatening terrains and situations. However with aeroplanes and other means of modern transportation it takes only a few hours, this is the grace and favour of Allah he has bestowed upon us.

Hajj has many maqasid (benefits) as Allah says in the Qur’an, “Hence, [O Muhammad,] proclaim unto all people the [duty of] pilgrimage…so that they might experience much that shall be of benefit to them, and that they might extol the name of God on the days appointed… ” (22:27, 28). These benefits range from spiritual to material. Students and scholars would travel to perform the obligation and also to congregate to acquire and disseminate Islamic teachings. Similarly, tradesmen would perform Hajj and also seek to do business with other businessmen.

In the past few years we have seen an increasing number of travel agents offer Hajj packages to people,  with many profiting from this now lucrative service. However as the number of people desiring to go to Hajj increases, consumers expectations are also growing. The quality of service some of these Umrah and Hajj providers offer is very poor at best, or just plain immoral.

Some providers even fail to inform their customers the full details of their packages! I have heard stories where people had to share a room with 5-7 people, even though they were promised (and paid for) a two person per room package. People are promised clean rooms but at their arrival they find the rooms being anything but that – some being infested with mice and cockroaches.

Many people who go to perform Hajj and experience these and other hideous wrongdoings from their Hajj providers become incensed and irritated by their experience, they promise they will complain or do something about it on their return – however this does not happen.

Perhaps, they do not do anything because we are always encouraged to overlook mistakes. Although forgiving and forgetting is a virtuous trait to show, in my view this is not the way. If people are being intentionally decieved by some Hajj providers every year (which has been happening), we must complain. If we don’t, the next group of people will have to go through the exact same injustices.

Muslims must complain to the local trading standards office, and even to ABTA or other similar bodies – if the agent was a member. Better still people should check if their provider is a member, that should guarantee some basic standards. Perhaps creating a website, where people post their comments about their Hajj experiences, would be a good idea. Maybe that would force Hajj package providers to raise their standards.

At the same time, I know there are many Umrah and Hajj agents who actually do provide a good and honest service to their customers.  In which case, a website will allow people to give their positive experiences too.