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brb going to Hajj; For about a week.
Topic Started: Nov 10 2010, 04:45 AM (754 Views)
-Ekoi-
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Bring me back some holy sand as a souvenir.
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Psycho Werekitsune
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XD aside, Mecca is actually a mountainous and rocky area, with occassional patches of greenery here and there. What I can get you though, is some holy Zamzam water straight from the Zamzam wells.
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-Ekoi-
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Sweet. Bring along a cool looking clear vile or bottle with you on your trip.

Something like that is a better souvenir than some stupid tourist crap you can buy in town.
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Psycho Werekitsune
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Yeah you can actually buy and export Zamzam water in bulk. It's not really much of a souvenir as more like one of the perks that goes with going to Mecca. Zamzam water is known for having an abundance of useful minerals and having rather remarkable healing properties. More can be read about it here:

http://qul.org.au/islamic-occasions/hajj-t...scientific-fact

http://qul.org.au/islamic-occasions/hajj-t...zam-water-facts
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-Korokage-
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Is there any special preparation neccessary for going on Hajj (obviously other than scrounging up air fare)? Just curious.
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Psycho Werekitsune
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In all honesty, right now, the only thing I can think of in the ways of preparation is making sure you're all cleaned up, shaving your uh...nether regions and armpits (which is generally compulsory in Islam every 30 days anyway) and cutting your nails. I guess organising this so that you are travelling with a group is a much safer experience (there are special travel groups created specifically for this occassion, which cost a good sum, but get everything sorted out for you, providing you with accomodation as well as food and guides). Also, carry plenty of water to keep hydrated, you will be doing a lot of moving around. Carry some medications in case you come down with something, you never know what kind of diseases you can catch from other people on the pilgrimage too. Make sure you keep your eyes on your belongings at all times because, despite being a holy city, Mecca is well known for pickpockets and thieves that prey on visitors.
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-Korokage-
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...Pickpockets and theives in a holy city? Wow. XD I guess not every city is perfect, but still. XDD
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-The Raging Zephyr-
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Well, Psycho is leaving in a couple hours.

HOW WILL WE SURVIVE?

I think I'm going to go take over the forum now, kthxbai.








Oh hey, I think I came up with something for my du'aa. Ask to make life easier on my parents. They work too hard for almost zero gain, they deserve something out of it.
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Fenix
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I'm back from angry rock throwing and stampeding Tawaf in one piece (wish I could say the same for some people, may they rest in peace). Anyways, since you douchebags made it so hard to think of something you really want and giving it to the guy, I made some Du'aa of my own. Especially Polter and Luffy :6:

Hajj wasn't as annoying and tiresome as I thought it would be. Everything was arranged for, food, bathrooms, beds, transport. The only thing that was "suffocating" was what happened at Jamarat and Tawaf. Those idiots think it's okay to throw slippers and Pepsi cans instead of 7 small simple pebbles, I guess it is too complicated. As for Tawaf.......HO HOHO HOOOOOOO!! I nearly fell off a staircase, I nearly stepped over my own glasses and worst part was that the douchey police men in charge of guarding and organizing the people flow were slacking off or making life a living hell for others just because some prince wants to make Tawaf. People say you go over there to be closer to God, I was just closer to spit, chewing gums and women screaming because people were stepping on them. But at least I made my Du'aa. Lots and lots.

By the way Korokage, Mecca is also the center of the biggest prostitution service ever.
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-Havoc the Tenrec-
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I'm back from angry rock throwing and stampeding Tawaf in one piece (wish I could say the same for some people, may they rest in peace).


wait....wat?


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Those idiots think it's okay to throw slippers and Pepsi cans instead of 7 small simple pebbles



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WAIT....WAT?



WHAT IS GOING ON IN HAJJ

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Mecca is also the center of the biggest prostitution service ever.


Interesting... I'll keep that in mind.
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-Jacquerel-
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I have to admit, that's not quite what I expected to read
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-Korokage-
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Fenix
Nov 21 2010, 04:22 AM
By the way Korokage, Mecca is also the center of the biggest prostitution service ever.

...How much are the plane ticke- *murdered*

I kid but...seriously? Damn, and I thought the Roman Catholic Church had issues.
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-Havoc the Tenrec-
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I just checked out that link Psycho posted on page one.

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Throwing pebbles was done at large pillars, which for safety reasons in 2004 were changed to long walls with catch basins below to catch the stones. The slaughter of an animal can be done either personally, or by appointing someone else to do it, and so forth.[8]  But even with the crowd control techniques, there are still many incidents during the Hajj, as pilgrims are trampled in a crush, or ramps collapse under the weight of the many visitors, causing hundreds of deaths.


Still not sure what they're throwing them at.

But... apparently they kill an animal or animal/s for something, and hundreds die a year from being trampled. I can understand when people kill animals for food... but doing it for anything else is... um..


...I thought this was supposed to be a religious pilgrimage. How does a religious ceremony get away with it's own people getting killed? ...Psycho's ok... right?

wait-
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Part of the Hajj involves the sacrifice of some 750,00 animals.
And religious authorities say they are working hard to make sure the meat does not go to waste.


Ok, so they use the meat... that's good. But killing for a religious purpose is batshit crazy... imho.
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-Jacquerel-
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Sacrifice has been a staple in pretty much every religion at some point or another.
Personally I wouldn't do it but then I believe in a completely different religion. But hundreds of years ago my lot liked killing animals too until God apparently came down and said "hey stop that I don't really care if you kill a goat ok" and they stopped.

But personally I don't believe in laughing at anyone else's religious beliefs except my own, as long as they don't harm anyone.
I mean you can debate that killing animals is harmful but as long as it's eaten eventually I don't think there's much grounds for complaint.
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Psycho Werekitsune
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Yo dawg, the slaughter of the lamb on Eid was intended as a way to provide a meal for the day as well as giving away any extra meat to friends and family. We try to use as much of the body (meat for food, fur for clothing or blankets, etc.) as we can. We even have medical personel on board to let people know if the sarifice is healthy, and if not, it is donated to places like zoos to feed animals there and the like.

In any case, guess who's back...back again...Psycho's back...tell a friend...you get the idea.

So as my compadre said above, it seems people tend to overexaggerate how difficult and tiring Hajj is. Then again, the group provided a lot for us, so really, we were pretty lucky, plus you get what you pay for. Going on Hajj is like going camping...in the relative nude (you basically have a towel wrapped around your waist, and another draped over your shoulder)...with over three million people (you spend more time with the 300 to 900 in your group though). Our group provided us with large tents housing 20 to 30 people to stay in, as well as a constant supply of food and drink. The only really difficult parts are doing Tawaf (imagine walking an entire circumference, which varies depending on how far back you are from the Ka'bah, and what floor you are on, of several kilometers seven times) and Sa'ee (much smaller circumference, but same number of times). Other than that, spending the night in Mina, going to Arafa and spending another night in Muzdalifa are nothing. Throwing pebbles at Jamarat can be difficult depending on what time you go, but otherwise, it shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes.

The only two issues were how boring the downtime was (I really should've brought my DS, or a book to read), and PEOPLE TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER! It's not intentional Havoc (at least, I don't think it is...with some instances, it makes you wonder), but people end up getting killed during Hajj, and it's ultimately due to a lack of organisation on behalf of the government and the local authorities. There is overcrowding, we're talking about millions of people here in one place, all trying to accomplish the same thing before going home, which might be on the other side of the planet. The local authorities are just a figurehead, they do nothing. They try to redirect the flow of traffic, block off certain areas when they get full, or during certain times of the day, but that only serves to create a frenzied crowd of aggressors wanting to do their crap as soon as possible, even at the expense of everyone else. People have no common courtesy, they just want to do their shit and go. There are douchebags who push like nobody's business during Tawaf, and don't get me started on the motherfuckers in wheelchairs. There is an entire section of the mosque dedicated to wheelchairs, but people still fucking push around in the main area, ploughing into people at their own leisure...and I have the cuts and bruises to prove it. Then, back at Jamarat, there's the assholes who stand all the way in the back and throw the weakest throw they can muster, sending pebbles right into the crowd and straight for people's heads (you're supposed to throw it at this big stone pillar, Havoc, and it lands in this big basin). The best part? THEY CONTINUE TO DO SO WITHOUT ALTERING THEIR TRAJECTORY WHATSOEVER, EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THIS DOES NOT COUNT!

Seriously, this is the one time of the year where all Muslims, from all walks of life, get together under one place to do one thing and stand before god, begging him for the things they want, and all they do is behave like animals. The experience may have brought me spiritually closer to my god, but it has also made me completely physically detatched from my own godamn species. Seriously, if the world is going to end by some big event, then the human race as a whole is not worth saving.

In any case, I made general du'aa for everyone by name, and anyone who I forgot to mention I lumped together under one sweeping du'aa. That aside, it's good to be back home in civilisation, in my own bed, with my own shower, and my own airconditioning. It took a few days, but I've healed up from all the walking, the skinned thighs, the SHANKING I received from people in wheelchairs and the flu I managed to contract while there. I'm in the process of catching up on stuff here. :3
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