The courtyards around the Grand Mosque in Makkah form a belt of 88,000 square meters accommodating 600,000 worshippers and are served by 550 full and part-time employees to ensure that prayer carpets, meal packs and Zamzam water are all in plentiful supply. Staff of the Grand Mosque Courtyards Administration, headed by Ahmad Ibrahim Shariah, work around the clock with peak hours in the evening when they hand out Iftar meals by the hundreds of thousand. No food is allowed to be brought into the area from outside, with the exception of dates and coffee. “The meals have to follow certain specifications,” Shariah said during an Okaz tour of the zone. “They have to have a specified minimum nutritional value and their packaging should not encourage littering in the area where prayers are performed. Dates in these meals must be seedless, as in the past we found that discarded date pits were a real problem when it came to cleaning. No cooked food is permitted either.” New regulations have been introduced this year for the meal packs. In the light of the threat of the swine flu virus all the packs must provide a face mask. Authorities have also clamped down on the activities of charities, who are now no longer allowed to insert messages of religious calling in meal packs, and have also been banned from handing out money. The Courtyards Administration supervises approximately 40 charities operating in the area and who handout some three million meal packs over the month of Ramadan. Vigilance Courtyards Administration staff have their work organized according to zonal subdivisions of the area, and they not only supervise the work of charities while being on the look out for worshippers bringing in food, they also have to keep an eye out for beggars and people riding motorbikes. Staff must be constantly vigilant, as they know that however many information notices they erect, worshippers coming from every corner of the world representing countless linguistic groups, will continue to be either ignorant of the rules or in flagrant violation. One Umrah pilgrim during the newspaper's tour when stopped by staff to have his bag checked was found to be carrying a fulsome a meal of rice, and was persuaded to turn away. Another pilgrim had deliberately hidden prohibited food in a bag full of clothes. He too was prevented him from entering the Haram. Yet another strode forward with a pile of packaged meals in his arms. After his initial disappointment at not being allowed to enter, he gave the food away outside the site and strode back in. At the eastern courtyard staff consisted of a number of teenagers and youths could be seen buzzing around energetically between pilgrims as they handed out meals. The pilgrims themselves maintained an orderly seating arrangement in accordance with instructions to ensure that each gets his meal. “The younger members of staff working with us have been told to make sure they treat pilgrims with the utmost kindness and respect,” Shariah said. Gone in a flash One of the most astonishing sights is the litter left behind immediately after the Iftar breaking of the fast has been completed and the speed with which it is collected. Within five minutes it has all gone, leaving the area spotless and ready for prayer. Shariah was happy that new measures working: “We've been able this year to put an end to a high percentage of unwanted activities by stationing security workers at all the courtyard entrances and having a large presence of supervisors, young lads who have really helped reduce the bringing in of banned food and other items which used to cause worshippers great inconvenience in the Grand Mosque and the surrounding areas.” Some youths are also engaged in more long-term projects, notably a group designated to spread awareness of the dangers of smoking. Whenever members of the group spot a pilgrim lighting up a cigarette they approach him, speak of the hazards of the habit, and also appeal to his sense of respect for the precincts of the Grand Mosque and suggest he devote his time instead to prayer. They also provide smokers with information leaflets and a miswak, promising that they will prayer for him. One of the young men in the group said that pilgrims responded positively to their efforts and described as “rare” the pilgrim who did not welcome their initiative. “Some have even given up smoking on the spot and sworn to never smoke again,” he said.
