38-Bulletin December 2009 Issue 38

www.saudiaustraliaonline.com December 2009 Issue 38 Vol 4

Full Story Page 2

Minister Khoja “HOLY SITEPROJECTS ARE A STEPFORWARD” Page 3

Ambassador Nazer

AUSTRALIAN HAJJ EXPERIENCE Pages 2-3

Dr. Abdul Aziz binSalmah: HAJJMEDIACOVERAGEPage 8


December 2009 Issue 38 Vol 4 www.saudiaustraliaonline.com

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e Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King AbdullahBin Abdul-Aziz held at the Royal Court in the MinaPalace, an annual reception for prominent Islamic person-alities and Heads of Hajj Mission, who were performingHajj this year. In his adress the King stressed the efforts of the Kingdomto ensure the well being and security of all pilgrims statingthat, “We (e Kingdom) will continue like so with thehelp of Allah to do whatever is possible within our power,sparing nothing, assisted only by the help of Allah.”“At the same time we will not allow anyone to tarnish thisholy obligation or endanger the security of the pilgrims. Pil-grims security is a matter that we do not take lightly, and topreserve it we will act firmly and decisively, for their securityis the cornerstone of our responsibility for which we allocateall possible human and financial resources, “ e King said.Later, the Minister of Hajj, Dr. Fouad Bin Abdul-SalamAl-Farsi addressed the gathering.Addressing the King, Dr Al-Farsi said "It is my honor tostand before you in this ceremony that is held under yourpatronage and in the presence of the distinguished guestscomprising prominent personalities in the Islamic world

who are welcomed in their second country that greets pilgrimswho come here from all around the world to perform Hajjwhich we hope will be acceptable.Addressing the King, Dr Al-Farsi said " I must refer to yourgreat efforts in the Two Holy Mosques as regards their hugeexpansions which extend to the holy sites, especially in the Ja-marat area and the railway project which make more easier forpilgrims to perform their rituals comfortably.”At the Islamic and International arenas, please let me refer towhat has been published by the American Forbes magazineabout your selection as one of the most important leaders inthe world in view of your great deeds in the international arenafor peace and bringing closer different civilizations as well asyour insistence on the importance of dialogue with others andsupport to international causes.

King Abdullah at the Mina Palace adressing the delegates on the progression of current Hajj projects


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The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdu-laziz bin Mohieddin Khoja has praised the currentHoly site projects being carried out.

Dr Khoja expressed his appreciation to the work of the Cus-todian of the two Holy Mosques, during a meting at theheadquarters of the Ministry with guests including seniorintellectual personalities, researchers and scholars from Araband Islamic states and also attended by media personnelperforming hajj this year. "What has been achieved in the holy sites through thesegiant projects, particularly the great project of developmentof Jamarat Area and the Mecca Train which' implementa-tion started last month of Muharram, in addition to otherprojects being currently implemented in the Two HolyMosques, embody the attention and care given to pilgrimsby the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullahbin Abdulaziz Al Saud." He added that the King directly supervises over all sectorsrelated to services provided for pilgrims for the provision

of the best services to enable pilgrims to perform theirHajj rituals easily and in a secure and stable environ-ment. e Minister of Culture and Information commendedPrince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Premier,

Minister of Interior, and Chairman of Hajj Supreme Com-mittee for direct and continuing follow up of all sectors re-lating to Hajj services, also praising Prince Khalid Al-Faisal,the Governor of Makkah Region and Chairman of HajjCentral Committee for following up Hajj projects andmovements of pilgrims in Holy Sites. Dr. Khoja also hosted a second meeting for Broadcastersparticipating in transmitting this year"s Hajj season. e Minister of Culture and Information pointed out thatmedia personnel will witness in Hajj season the greatachievements accomplished by the Saudi state since the eraof late King Abdulaziz, and the following Kings, who havecontinued completion the track of construction, adding thatthe era of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques KingAbdullah bin Abdulaziz has witnessed new gigantic addi-tions topped by Jamarat Project which will remain for thecoming centuries a living witness of generous and unlimited giving to facilitate the performance of this great pillar.

(left) Minister Khoja with Dr Abdul Aziz bin Salmahunder secretary of culture and information andSPA Director Mr Abdullah bin Fahd Al Hussain


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It may be a gruelling and at-times dangerous journey forMuslim pilgrims, but Brisbane man Omar Saghir says theHajj last year was the most amazing experience of his life.

Millions of Muslim pilgrims have already risked floods andswine flu this year on the annual journey to the Muslim holycities of Mecca and Medina.But the 28-year-old wants to make the pilgrimage to SaudiArabia again as soon as he can save up the money."e experience for me, because I'm Australian-born and I'venever really been outside of Australia, it was a very, very, veryintriguing experience," Mr Saghir said."It was very diverse and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experiencebecause I haven't seen anything like it."Followers of Islam are required by their faith to try and makethe pilgrimage once in their lifetime. According to the Muslim faith the prophet Abraham per-formed a series of rituals in Mecca thousands of years ago, andon a modern-day Hajj pilgrims follow in those footsteps.Over seven days the rituals include completing circuits of abuilding called the Kaaba in the centre of the Grand Mosque,throws stones in a ritual stoning of the devil, and drinkingfrom the sacred Zamzam well.is year around 3 million people are converging on SaudiArabia, and they have already battled widespread floods inJeddah, the city where most pilgrims arrive by plane.And due to the huge numbers of pilgrims most Muslim travel

agents routinely warn their clients to prepare themselvesfor frustration, mental anguish, annoyance and anger.But difficulties such as these are trivial for the majority ofpilgrims, who are determined to fulfil lifetime ambitions.For Omar Saghir last year it was more a spur-of-the-moment decision than a case of a lifetime ambition ful-filled, although he says the trip inspired him beyond whathe had expected.Mr Saghir, 28, had just seen a business venture on the Gold

“AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE”

Pilgrims praying upon Mount Arafat, amongst thefinal steps of completing the Hajj pilgrimage


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Coast fall over and he and his business partner decidedto put their capital towards a pilgrimage to the HolyLand."ere were 12 days until the Australian delegationwent overseas to Hajj, so we ended up making thequick decisions to go to Hajj and used our businessmoney as Hajj money," he said."You see people from all walks of life and it's very ex-traordinary because you'll see that there is no differencebetween the white man and the black man, the red manand the yellow man, the rich man and the poor man. "People are all humble together. You couldn't see the

difference if this man owned a million dollars or if he ownednothing. You'll see people from all walks of life."He says he would like to be able to make the trip once everytwo years, and is determined to complete the pilgrimage at leastonce every five years.Authorities have improved facilities to ease the flow of pilgrims,particularly around the area of the stoning of the devil, but thesheer number of visitors stretches authorities to the limit.Mr Saghir says he recognises the dangers but the risks are worthtaking. If the worst was to happen he says he would be willingto die on a pilgrimage."At some points you do feel things get very tough, but I would-n't say it's to the extent that you think you're going to die or ata very large health risk," he said."[But] In a place like that where it's very sacred for Muslims itwould be a good place to die nevertheless."Melbourne travel agent Hamidah Rahman, who has helped or-ganise hundreds of people's pilgrimages in recent years, has asimilar view of the Hajj."You always believe God is there and whatever happens ismeant to happen, but precautions have been taken by the Saudigovernment anyway," she said."Accidents sometimes happen but last year I went and nothinghappened, two years ago my sister went and nothing hap-pened."Dangers aside, there is no doubt the pilgrimage still exerts apowerful pull on millions of Muslims all over the world."Being up close with the sacred mosque of Mecca or the Kabaa,that is unbelievable," Mr Saghir says."I'm used to seeing it on TV or seeing pictures or hearing aboutit, actually being there amongst the millions and getting upclose, that really touches your heart."

“More than 4000 Australian Muslims make

the pilgrimage to Makkah to take part in the

Hajj this year. In Saudi Arabia, we are truly

blessed with the distinct honor and respon-

sibility of being the custodians, stewards

and servants of Islam’s most important holy

places including the Two Holy Mosques in

Makkah and Madinah. This is a blessing

that we thank God for, and a responsibility

which we do not take lightly. The Kingdom

puts its responsibility to Islam first. It puts

an immense human, financial and adminis-

trative effort into caring for these sites and

for pilgrims visiting them from around the

world including Australian Muslims”

H.E Ambassador Hassan Nazer

A message from the Ambassador


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Muslim pilgrims on their way to throw pebbles

at a stone pillar representing the devil, during

the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina near Mecca

What are some of the big projects that are taking placein the city of Mecca?Al-Bar: You know that Mecca has been changing, orstarted the journey of change, during the past twoyears. I think the project that will affect Mecca themost in the near future is the expansion of the HolyMosque. is megaproject will add more than around400,000 square metres.e first phase of this megaproject has been finishedwith the expansion of al-Massa. Al-Massa has beendoubled in area, and also more floors, and that willease the situation which was in the past. Now the ca-pacity of al-Massa may be more than 100,000 pilgrimsper hour, which will accommodate more hajis [pil-grims] in doing the sa'i [where pilgrims walk seventimes around the hills of Safa and Marwha] withoutany problems.Also, there are megaprojects both in the civil side andin the public services and infrastructure, and also inthe holy shrines of Mina and Arafat and Muzdalifah.If we're talking about the civil roads and megaprojectsin housing and infrastructures, we have more than 40projects in this field.Why does the kingdom feel compelled to expand themosque?e problem was, you have the situation that Islam hasbeen spread, Alhamdulillah [praise be to God], moreand more everywhere, and the number of Muslims hasbeen increasing - maybe doubling within three decadesor something like that.Also information technology

and the media have been expanded dramatically during the lastdecade.With all of the people that come to Mecca to perform Hajj andUmrah [a pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken at any time of theyear], the government should act to accommodate more hajis.If you see just in your report on Al Jazeera about Mecca duringHajj - if you see the number of pilgrims and the people around themosque, in all the roads and surrounding areas, than it makes senseto expand al-Haram, the holy mosque, and all the shrines of al-Massa, Arafat, Mina, Muzdalifah.Let me ask you about Hajj - how do you see it in 25 years time?Hajj is always the same - people come as a direct response to thecall of Prophet Abraham. It's the fifth pillar of Islam, it's the spe-cial journey of the Muslim. He will always come to see the Kaaba


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The soon to be implemented Mecca train will pass from Mecca to Mina,

Arafat and Muzdalifah, assisting Muslims whilist on their pilgramige. This proj-

ect is set to be completed in time for Hajj 2010 and will stretch over 17.7

km and have a capacity of 72000 passengers per hour per direction in the

Hajj season. Each train supplied by the Chinese rolling stock manufacturer

CNR Changchun Railway Vehicle Company will carry up to 3,000 passen-

gers. The line will have a total of nine stations, three of which will loop

around the holy site. Each train will consist of 12 cars and travel at a speed

of 100km per hour.

Constructions occuring around the “Masjid al

Haram” in Mecca

Hajj Pilgrims making the journey through Mount Arafat

[Islam's holiest shrime], he will always come to do tawaf [when pilgrimswalk round the Kaaba seven times], sa'i and go to [Mount] Arafat on the9th day of Dhul-Hijjah [the month of pilgrimage].So this is how the special journey will always be the same. What willchange is surfaces, what will change is the transportation modes, what willchange is what will ease the situation for people, will accommodate morepeople, in a very good environment to perform the Hajj, inshallah [Godwilling], in safe and good health and a very good situation.ere're some criticisms with all of this development that Mecca is losingsome of its history, that maybe everything is becoming too modern. Doyou think that criticism is fair?I don't think so, because, the area of Mecca in older days - for centuries - isstill almost the same area of the holy mosque now.You have to balance how you can accommodate more people, more hajiscoming to Mecca to do the fifth pillar of Islam. With these very narrowroads and very historical areas, you cannot.e most important things arethe holy mosque and the holy shrine, and that will be kept as is. e Kaabawill be kept from the time of Prophet Abraham until now; centuries, thou-sands of years.e massa is the same, the mountains of Safa and Marwa, from whenHagar, the wife of Prophet Abraham, and his son Ismail came to Meccaand were asking for water, Zamzam [the well said to have been uncoveredby Hagar in her search for water] - these kinds of things will be kept forcenturies, until inshallah the end of life.But the situation should change for people - for the ease of public services,transportation modes, housing modes. How can you accommodate peoplein old houses and expect they will be safe in them? You cannot do that.

So, you should do what Saudi Arabia did in thelast decade, and what they will continue to do,inshallah.Do you have an estimate of how much all theseprojects cost?We talked about, I think, just the projects in

the last two years. I think it's around 100 billionSaudi riyals [$26.6bn]. What we need, or whatwe plan to do, within the next ten years, I thinkwill range around 500 billion Saudi riyals. Sowe're talking about $125bn, something likethat, over the next decade.Over the next decade ... for infrastructure?For infrastructure, yes, for megaprojects inhousing, for megaprojects in transportationmodes, for megaprojects in roads, and somekinds of infrastructure.

THE MECCA TRAIN


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International TV channels and news agencies such asCNN, BBC, ABC, NBC, Associated Press, AgenceFrance Presse and Reuters have sent their reporters

and crews to cover the annual pilgrimage this year.Other major media organizations taking part in the Hajcoverage include Al Jazeera of Qatar, SCTV of Malaysia,Al Arabiya, MBC, Islam Channel of Britain, KBC ofSouth Korea, Japans NHK television, Russia Today TVand Indonesian Television.e Ministry of Culture and Information has establishedfull-fledged media centers in Jeddah, Makkah, Madinahand the holy sites of Mina and Arafat for the use of for-eign journalists and media organizations, said Dr. AbdulAziz bin Salmah, Under secretary of culture and informa-tion minsitry for foreign information.“We have provided all facilities for the foreign media or-

ganizations to give coverage of the Haj events”, Dr Salmah said.ey are also provided with high-speed Internet services in addi-tion to telephone and fax facilities. e ministry also organisesspecial tours for foreign journalists.Dr Salmah told "e SA Bulletin" that media delegations had en-joyed full freedom in reporting and there was no instance of anymedia organization being prohibited from covering anything inparticular. e only thing we wanted from them was total objec-tivity in their reporting," Dr Salmah said.“e present Hajj season has seen extraordinary coverage by in-ternational media channels, including newspapers, radio, televisionand other news agencies, ” he added.He has confirmed that more than 500 reporters and Media crewshave covered the annual pilgrimage this year.

Dr Salmah discussing the current media situation with television

crews and reporters filming the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina

(below) Dr Salmah with Information and Culture Minister

Dr Abdulaziz Khoja observing the Hajj pilgrimage

Documents

38-Bulletin December 2009 Issue 38