Another Stampede-Free Hajj: Credit Where Credit is Due

Something wasn't in the news this year: another stampede at the tent city of Mina.

Because, as far as I can tell, it didn't happen.

No News was Good News from Saudi Arabia

Looks like the Hajj is wrapping up for this year - or maybe it already has. Hajj is "the fifth pillar of Islam ... a pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhu al-Hijja...." (Princeton's WordNet) - was, or is, in late November this year.

The date of the Hajj seems to jump around a bit, since it's based on a lunar calendar, and other factors. I don't see any thing unusual about someone not using a solar calendar - but then, I'm one of those people who celebrates Easter. The date of which is determined by another lunar calendar.

The famous - or infamous - stampedes have been at what Western news often calls the "stoning of the devil." Here's what CNN had to say about this year's event:

"...Jamarat is a re-enactment of an event when Prophet Abraham stoned the devil and rejected his temptations, according to Muslim traditions.

"The ritual stoning of three pillars, which occurs in the tent city of Mina -- about two miles from Mecca, was the scene of stampedes and many deaths in the 1980s and 1990s as pilgrims passed a crowded bottleneck area leading to the small pillars on the ground...."
(CNN)

With due respect to CNN, the eighties and nineties weren't the only period during which devout Muslims trampled their way into the world's headlines:

A short selection of regrettable incidents during the Hajj, so far in the 21st century:

• "Pilgrims killed in Mecca stampede"
  (March 5, 2001)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Hajj ends peacefully"
  BBC News (February 24, 2002)
  • "Nearly two million Muslims have been performing the symbolic stoning of the devil at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca - the Hajj...."
• "Fourteen killed in Hajj stampede"
  BBC News (February 11, 2003)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Saudis review Hajj danger points"
  BBC News (February 2, 2004)
  • "Saudi Arabia is setting up a high-level group to redevelop Islam's holiest sites following a stampede that is now said to have killed 251 people...."
• "Hundreds killed in Hajj stampede"
  BBC News (February 1, 2004)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Pilgrims 'stone Satan' for Hajj"
  BBC News (January 20, 2005)
  • No stampede
  • And: "A top Saudi cleric has urged Muslims to shun militant forms of Islam, as pilgrims carried out one of the final rituals of the Hajj...."
• "Hajj ritual sees new safety moves"
  BBC News (January 10, 2006)
  • "Saudi Arabia has deployed tens of thousands of stewards to stop stampedes..."
• "Hundreds killed in Hajj stampede"
  BBC News (January 12, 2006)
  • Stampede at stoning of the devil
• "Hajj pilgrimage draws to a close"
  BBC News (January 3, 2007)
  • "Millions of Muslims have taken part in the final day of the Hajj, which has passed without major incident after new security measures were introduced...."
• "In pictures: Hajj pilgrimage"
  BBC News (December 7, 2008)
  • My guess is that 'no news is good news'
• "Saudi security high as Hajj pilgrimage begins"
  BBC News (November 25, 2009)
  • Another year, no major disaster
  • "...The authorities have warned people not to stage protests and will use force if necessary...."
  • Video, 1:51

Note: as far as I can tell, newsworthy stampedes occurred in only in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2006. Counting 2000 as the first year of the 21st century, that means lethal stampedes were a part of only 4/10 of the pilgrimages.

I think one factor that helped this year was a major investment in the infrastructure for this year's Jamarat. According to CNN, Saudi Arabia put up $1,200,000,000 set of five pedestrian bridges - and three "massive pillars" to accommodate the millions on Muslims who came.

My hat's off to the House of Saud, for learning from experience: and making arrangements that didn't kill pilgrims this year. Also, for taking what appear to have been effective steps toward seeing to it that this year's Hajj was a religious event. Not a political one.

Looks like the king of Saudi Arabia saying, back in 2008, that terrorists were giving Islam a bad name may not have been a fluke. (September 27, 2008)

And, looks like another Hajj has passed (or is passing) without disaster, and without the seemingly-obligatory 'death to people we don't like' chants. Despite a few - ah, enthusiastic - Saudi clerics, the government of Sudan, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Somalia's own Al Shabaab, and assorted jihadist wannabes: I think it's possible to think that Islam isn't the hopelessly out-of-touch bunch of dangerous misfits who can't deal with a world where women are often allowed to drive.

Related posts:

• "In the News: Shaking it for Islam; Wannabe Jihadist Stopped"
  (October 21, 2009)
• "Indonesia, Islam, Adultery, Stoning, Burkinis, Divisiveness and the West"
  (October 13, 2009)
• "Afghan Husband Rapes Wife: Culture, Law, History, and Catching Up"
  (September 24, 2009)
• "Protesting Election Fraud is "Waging War Against God" - Ayatollah Khatami"
  (June 28, 2009)
• "Truck Bombing in Iraq: Lions of Islam Hit Another Mosque"
  (June 21, 2009)
• "Using a Kid to Bomb a Mosque: Non-Western Cultural Values, Just Plain Evil, or Something Else?"
  (June 12, 2009)
• "American Journalist Roxana Saberi: Fargo's Freedom; Iran's Ayatollahs"
  (April 14, 2009)
• "House of Saud Lashes Old Woman: Another Tale from the Weird Side"
  (March 10, 2009)
• "Canadian Mosque's 'Specialized De-Radicalization Intervention Program' - Sounds Good"
  (February 26, 2009)
• "What is Islam? Even Muslims Don't Seem to Agree"
  (February 6, 2009)
• "Make That Two Egyptian Doctors, a Saudi Princess, and Thousands of Lashes"
  (November 14, 2008)
• "Saudi Cleric Wants Women to Use One Eye - I'm Not Making This Up"
  (October 4, 2008)
• "Saudi Arabia's National Day, Islam, and Tribalism: This is Big"
  (September 27, 2008)
• "Honor Killing is Against Islam, Islamic Party Members Say"
  (September 7, 2008)
• "The Subway Project and 'Why Islam?' - Terrorists in the Subways! Or, Not"
  (July 23, 2008)
• "Pro-Islamic Ads Coming to New York City Subways: There's a Real Danger Here, of Becoming Informed"
  (July 21, 2008)

In the news:

• "A bridge to safety unveiled for Hajj stoning ritual"
  CNN (November 28, 2009)
• "Saudi Arabia warns against protests at Hajj"
  BBC News (November 23, 2009)

Background:

• "Hajj perils, ancient and modern"
  BBC News (March 5, 2001)
• "Hajj ends peacefully"
  BBC News (February 24, 2002)
  • Includes summary of six major Hajj disasters, 1987-2001