Share your thoughts with our readers: Email your contribution, no less than 300 words, to [email protected] On a recent Friday, I went to Makkah to perform Umrah. I witnessed some things that I wish to share with you so that perhaps a change may be brought about that would help people enjoy better spirituality and peace while in the Grand Mosque. People come to Makkah to gain the mercy of the Almighty, to recharge their spirituality, to ask for the forgiveness from the Almighty, to get the blessings of the Almighty, etc. Two years ago I went to Makkah with one of my friends. We performed Umrah and I asked my friend to take a photo of me in front of the Holy Kaaba. My friend asked me why I wanted my photo taken. He said: “Umrah is performed for Allah. Why do you want to take a picture? Do you want to have proof for Allah that you performed Umrah?” After hearing these questions, I realized that I should not have my picture taken and especially while I was in Ihram. On my recent visit to the Grand Mosque to perform Umrah, I had some bad experiences while I was performing my tawaf. One person who was tall and strong was holding his tablet computer above the crowd and was shooting video while performing tawaf. It was Friday and it was very crowded. While people were performing tawaf they found it difficult to move due to the large number of people. This man, who was concentrating on shooting his video, disturbed the moving crowd. At one point this person stopped moving and stood still while shooting the video of the Kaaba, which disturbed the crowd of people who were behind him. This man was not the only one. I saw many other people who were circumambulating the Kaaba with their mobiles in their hands shooting videos and taking snapshots. I also saw people posing in different locations of the mosque. I saw a person who posed as if he were reading the Qur'an while his friend took his picture. In many public places, the authorities have banned photography and I wish that they would ban photography inside the Grand Mosque so that pilgrims could perform their rituals peacefully without such annoyances. Another issue is that while performing tawaf, some people rudely push others in order to make them move faster. When I was performing tawaf, someone was continuously punching my back. At one stage, it became very annoying and I wanted to ask the person to stop. However, when I turned around I found that it was an old man who was pushing me. Since he was an old man, I did not want to say anything to him as I felt that it might be too harsh or that it might hurt him if I asked him to stop what he was doing. I just ignored it and tried to move away from him so that he would pass me. The reason why I write these things is that while we are in the world's holiest place, we need to exercise patience. We should not harm or disturb others. We should follow good and proper etiquette. We should try to help and serve our fellow Muslims in order to gain Almighty Allah's mercy.
