In Saudi Officials, I Saw Muslims but Little Islam: British Hajj Pilgrim

A British woman who took part in this year's Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia says the Saudi authorities running the pilgrimage were Muslims in name only.

In an article published on the website of The Guardian, British writer and activist Sabreena Razaq Hussain said a number of factors, including Saudi authorities’ treatment of pilgrims, contributed to the deadly crush during Hajj rituals in Mina, near Mecca.

‘No concern for pilgrims’ welfare’

“In Mecca I saw Muslims, but I saw little Islam. I did not see compassion from our hosts, I did not see their concern for our welfare,” she wrote.

According to Razaq Hussain, pilgrims from hundreds of countries, who had hoped to experience a pleasant and spiritual journey, were met with “humiliating” and “harsh policing” from Saudi forces, who had “poor manners and communication skills.”

“It appeared the only thing the very young policemen were authorized to do was shout the Arabic word for ‘no’ and to barricade entry routes as and when they pleased without warning, offering no alternative: clearly a recipe for a crush or a stampede in any of the holy sites,” Hussain said.

‘The [mal-]functioning of Saudi Arabia’

She also accused Saudi authorities of being disorganized and of failing to manage some two million pilgrims present in a small city for the Hajj pilgrimage, saying much of the problem “stems from the actual functioning of Saudi Arabia itself.”

The activist added that pilgrims also suffered dehydration from high temperatures and a serious lack of water supplies in main routes used by the crowds.

She further criticized the kingdom for failing to push authorities into creating a safe and workable system for millions of international visitors, while members of the Al Saud royal family and their guests “are treated as VIPs.”

On a number of instances, Hussain said, Saudi police were insensitive toward those pilgrims with serious illnesses when roads or entrances were blocked.

Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed in the crush on September 24. However, officials with Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including 464 Iranians, lost their lives in the tragedy.

Riyadh, which has not denied any responsibility for the incident, has come under increasing pressure over the incident.