Friday, January 20, 2006

Hajj Tragedy

Another sad year for Muslims all around the globe as tragedy has hit the Hajj resulting in precious loss of life. A hotel collapsed in Mecca taking 70 lives and then stampede took the lives of around 360 pilgrims. In the recent past, various unfortunate incidents have resulted in human casualties. Although the administration has taken some very good steps to mitigate these incidents, one aspect has been overlooked. In the Quran we come to know that Hajj can be observed in sacred months (Sura 2, verse 197).

[2:197] Hajj shall be observed in the specified months...

Now there is a difference of opinion on which months are sacred but there is no difference on the month of Zil Hajj (12th month of Islamic Calender) and Muharram (1st Month). Currently Hajj is undertaken on the 9th and 10th of Zil Hajj. If we follow God's advice then the whole month of Zil Hajj can be taken to perform Hajj instead of just two days. Some people argue that only the first 10 days are considered to be sacred to perform Hajj; in which case ten days can be allotted for the performance of Hajj, greatly lowering the burden on the Hajj administration. This will also result in mitigation of occurrences of human deaths due to accidents.

Also Check

- Eid - Is Animal Sacrifice Obligatory?

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