RABAT,
December 24, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Dissatisfied with poor
organization and lack of interest, the majority of Spanish Muslims
prefer to launch their hajj journey from the other side of the
Mediterranean.
"It
is easier and better to make the spiritual trip from Morocco,
especially in view of the official supervision of hajj," Al-Mahdi
Bal'ed told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, December 24.
Like
many Muslims in Spain, Bal'ed decided to cross the Mediterranean to
make their hajj arrangements.
A
great number of Moroccan immigrants living in Spain have booked their
tickets to Saudi Arabia with Moroccan airliners, according to IOL
correspondent.
They
cite the lack of hajj supervision and facilities from leading Muslim
organizations and Islamic centers in Spain.
Eight
centuries ago, Spanish pilgrims in Muslim Andalusia used the same hajj
route.
They
used to crossed Gibraltar to Morocco and then joined Moroccan pilgrims
on their land trip to Saudi Arabia.
Spain
has a Muslim minority ranging from 750,000 to one million people out
of a total population of 40 million.
Moroccans
constitute the majority of the Muslim population, especially in
Catalonia, one of the seventeen autonomous communities that constitute
Spain.
Less
Priority
Bal'ed
urged Muslim organizations in Spain to accord better attention to hajj
organization.
"We
should learn from the experiences of other Muslim minorities in
Europe, like those in France and Germany," he asserted.
"We
do not have to wait for years to organize ourselves and offer the
services Muslims need."
Leading
Muslim organizations in Spain contend that they focus primarily on
solving the problems facing Muslims in the European country, including
schools and mosque building.
They
also see it as a higher priority defending Muslims' rights, citing
recent decisions by Spanish officials in Seville and Alicante Cities
to evacuate mosques and relocate them to remote areas.
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.
Reunited
Other
Spanish Muslims return to homeland Morocco before hajj to reunite with
their relatives and next in kin.
"All
my family members who went on hajj embark on the spiritual journey
from Morocco," Ahmed Bilhassan, who lives in the Moroccan island
of Sebta, a Spanish colony.
"It's
a golden opportunity to meet one's relatives."
Spanish
citizens of Moroccan origin in Sebta, known as Ceuta in Spanish, make
up 40 percent of the Island’s some 100,000 population.
Flourishing
trade city under the Arabs, Sebta was annexed by the Portuguese in
1415 and occupied by Spain in 1580.
It
lies in the north of Morocco on the Mediterranean coast near the
Strait of Gibraltar. Its is approximately 20 km².
In
1985, Spain moved to entrench its grip over the island, applying a law
that gave it an autonomous status.
Muslim-owned
Spanish tour operators organize very limited hajj trips for a handful
of Muslims in Spain.
The
visas are issued by the Saudi embassy in Madrid but the number of
applicants remains very small compared to other European countries
such as France, Germany and Britain.
However,
Spanish Muslim sources expect an increase in direct hajj trips to
Saudi Arabia in the years to come.
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