BERLIN,
December 12, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Some five
thousand Muslims in Germany are charging batteries for the spiritual
hajj journey next month, hoping for a well-organized trip without
mishap.
"I
was almost to lose all faith in hajj organizers," disgruntled
Sayed told IslamOnline.net on Monday, December 12.
Sayed
said he went to Saudi Arabia three years go and was promised to be
accommodated near the two holy mosques in Makkah and Al-Madinah Al-Munawarrah,
but found himself housed miles away.
"I
pin high hopes this time on a reputable hajj organizer to get a smooth
spiritual journey," he added.
Abdel
Qadir Mohammad hopes to avoid any disarray this hajj.
"Airport
delays and over-crowdedness in Saudi Arabia forced us to make a
transit in Brussels (Belgium) where we spent the night at the airport
after the organizers failed to confirm our flight."
The
first batch of pilgrims will fly to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, December
15.
Hajj
consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential
concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of
Prophet Abraham and his family.
Every
able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must
perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, once in their
lifetime.
Non-Profit
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One of the hajj posters distributed by organizers.
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Some
Muslim associations in Germany offer charge-free services for the
minority to get a journey that would rise up to the pilgrims’
aspirations.
"We
organize hajj in cooperation with Al-Muhajroon mosque in Bonne,"
Sabri Al-Sherif, the hajj organizer of the Islamic Assembly
Association, told IOL.
"We
don’t seek profit unlike other hajj organizers nationwide," he
added.
This
hajj, Sherif noted, the association is only helping 180 would-be
pilgrims to get the job done properly.
On
hajj cost this season, he put the figure at 2,200 euros against 1,195
euros last year.
"Each
pilgrim pays 1,000 euros as a down payment and the rest on the eve of
the journey," he added.
Generally
speaking, hajj costs in Germany this season range between 1600 and
2900 euros.
Sherif
said some mosques and reputable hajj organizers provide special
packages for the handicapped, including free-of-charge wheelchairs and
assistants.
Islam
comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.
There
are some 3.4 million Muslims in the country, including 220,000 in
Berlin alone. An estimated two thirds of the minority are of Turkish
origin.
Bird
Flu
Mahmoud
Abdel Karim criticized some calls to cancel hajj this years over fears
of a bird flu outbreak.
"These
venomous calls are let out by people who harbor grudge towards Islam
and I highly question the faith of Muslims who endorse this. I myself
wish to die in the holy lands," he said.
Didier
Pittet, director of the Infection Control Program at Geneva's
University Hospitals, suggested in November calling off hajj in
January over fears of an outbreak of a bird flu pandemic during the
Muslim ritual, which draws up to two million pilgrims from across the
world.
"If
they discover a human-to-human bird flu they should call off the
hajj," he added.
Fears
of a bird flu outbreak have been high in the oil-rich kingdom since
reports on November 6 that chickens perished in a farm in southeastern
Saudi Arabia.
Saudi
Minister of Hajj Affairs Hamed Al-Manae reiterated Saturday, December
10, that no bird flu cases were detected in the kingdom.
He
maintained that all necessary precautions were taken by the Saudi
authorities to prevent an outbreak of the avian flu.
The
virus cannot pass among people the way ordinary seasonal flu does, but
experts fear it could mutate into a form which can be transmitted from
person to person.
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