Religious Travelers - Hajj 1428

Any news or discussion here on FT?

I put an index of additional 2008 Hajj flights in the ME FFP forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10749366#post10749366), in case anyone has news of additional flights for the Novemeber/December period.

Previous Hajj threads:
1427 (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=637796&highlight=hajj)
1426 (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=637796)

Some pictures I took when I performed Hajj last year (1427)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27685228@N07/

Some pictures I took when I performed Hajj last year (1427)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27685228@N07/

Thank you for sharing the interesting pictures. I enjoyed looking at them.

The pilgrims are gathering in Mina today - all 2-5 million. The exact number is unknown because the locals (comprising Saudi, UAE, Omani, Qatari, Kuwaiti and Bahraini citizens) don't have to go through the same process of applying to the Hajj Ministry like the rest of us.

There seems to be less international media coverage of Hajj this year but an excellent Hajj diary can be found here...

HAJJ DAY 1
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/200812565458216492.html

There seems to be less international media coverage of Hajj this year but an excellent Hajj diary can be found here...

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/200812565458216492.html

I was surprised also to see that both BBC and CNN are off the radar ( as compared to previous years)- may be no Muslim reporters are available for daily comments.

I was surprised also to see that both BBC and CNN are off the radar ( as compared to previous years)- may be no Muslim reporters are available for daily comments.

Plenty of Muslim reporters in both organizations and the ones I met in the BBC contingent last year wanted to return this year. Not sure why there is a news blackout on what is perhaps the most complex logistical movement of people from every continent to one location in the world.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/200812665024686580.html

24 Hour Hajj coverage is available free in the USA on Dish TV, Channel 773 (IQRAA TV)

http://www.iqraa-tv.net/En/Default.aspx

Two western reporters who have performed the Hajj and documented it :
1. Thomas Abercrombie, a National Geographic photographer and writer who embraced Islam and later recorded the Pilgrimage for the magazine.
Sadly he passed away in 2006
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2006/04/abercrombie.html
His first Hajj was in 1965
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/08/tom-abercrombie/multimedia/gallery.swf
Pic #13 -16

We had the magazine laying around when I was growing up because my grand-mother performed her first pilgrimage at the same time (that's how/why I remembered) and my dad kept it. Since then NGM has had a few articles.

2. Michael Wolfe hosted a televised account of the Hajj from Mecca for Ted Koppel's "Nightline" on ABC in April 1997,:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3819177628866221565
sorry quality is not that great

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/2008127113430377141.html

For those who cannot access my Flickr photostream, I will post some pictures directly into my posts...

This picture was taken inside the Grand Masjid also known as the Haram. It was taken after the conclusion of the Hajj on what is possibly the busiest day inside the Haram. When pilgrims complete the Hajj requirements, they are physically in Mina, some distance from Makkah. On the day they leave for home, they must perform the Farewell Circumambulation of the Kaaba (Tawaf e Vida). Since most people leave on the day Hajj is complete, the crush of people performing the circumambulation means it can take upto four or five hours to complete the seven circles around the Kaaba that make up one Tawaaf.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/3065482218_21f3992178_o.jpg

Some pictures I took when I performed Hajj last year (1427)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27685228@N07/

brilliant pictures, always brings back memories whenever I see pictures of Hajj

Thanks

I performed Hajj this year. It was a marvelous experience to leave the world behind for 2 weeks. Keith Ellison (http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/36417549.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD 3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUsX) was also there this year.

For those who cannot access my Flickr photostream, I will post some pictures directly into my posts...

This picture was taken inside the Grand Masjid also known as the Haram. It was taken after the conclusion of the Hajj on what is possibly the busiest day inside the Haram. When pilgrims complete the Hajj requirements, they are physically in Mina, some distance from Makkah. On the day they leave for home, they must perform the Farewell Circumambulation of the Kaaba (Tawaf e Vida). Since most people leave on the day Hajj is complete, the crush of people performing the circumambulation means it can take upto four or five hours to complete the seven circles around the Kaaba that make up one Tawaaf.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/3065482218_21f3992178_o.jpg

Great picture. Very nice.