Worship and anxiety lead the way in the pilgrimage to Mecca

Metro Detroiters worry they'll be mistreated by Saudi police during the Hajj
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

December 7, 2007

Latifeh Sabbagh packs at the family home in Dearborn on Thursday while she visits with her sister Houda Hamka and 3-year-old niece Batule Hamka. Later in the day she was to fly to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (Bryan Mitchell / Special to The Detroit News)

DEARBORN -- With the death of a young friend and attending two religious retreats this summer, Latifeh Sabbagh, a 23-year-old social worker, is experiencing a formative spiritual moment in her life. So, she thought, what better time to go to the Hajj?

"I lost my friend on a day when I was contemplating whether I should go this year or not," said Sabbagh, who left Thursday for Saudi Arabia, one of thousands of Muslims from Metro Detroit who are beginning the journey this week. "And God helped me get through, so I just wanted to show my closeness to Him.

"I have to say, though, my anxiety level is kind of high, right now."

Sabbagh is not alone among Metro Detroit pilgrims in her feelings of intense happiness and concern about the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are required to make at least once in a lifetime, if they are physically able. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Mixed with the overwhelming religious sentiments of the Hajj and the anticipation of distant travel, some local Muslims say that recent incidents in Saudi Arabia make them increasingly anxious about their treatment by security police. The fears, some say, threaten to diminish an essential experience of the Hajj: The awesome sense of unity conjured by a few million Muslims all gathering in one place, relinquishing their earthly stations in life to attain perfect equality as they worship God.

Dearborn contains one of the largest concentrations of Shi'a Muslims in the United States. Their spiritual leaders say they are concerned their followers are targets for harassment, arrests and even beatings by members of the security forces who are practitioners of an acutely fundamentalist version of Islam, Wahhabism.

"This is a real conflict that goes on between a very strict minority, who happen to be custodians of the holy shrines in Saudi Arabia, and a much larger group that is really upset with this kind of treatment," said Carl Ernst, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina. "Even people who express deep and emotional reactions at the tomb of the Prophet are sometimes bothered.

"I have heard, over the years, of elderly women breaking down in tears in front of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad and being beaten up with sticks," Ernst said.

The problems with extreme fundamentalists emphasize a point that many Muslims say critics do not understand: They are the primary victims of extremism.

Amane Karaali, 23, a public school teacher in Dearborn, who was to leave Thursday for the Hajj, says that her mentors make the risks clear.

"They tell me to be deferential and if the security police warn you, just do what they want you to do or they might do something more drastic," Karaali said. "You might go to jail. You might not be able to fulfill your duties on the Hajj."

Shi'a and Sunnis sometimes worship differently. The distinctions may be as simple as different methods of ceremonial cleansing before prayer. The Shi'a tend to show greater emotion and physical reverence at grave sites of Muslim leaders. The Wahhabis tend to detest perceived ostentation.

While many Muslims consider the different approaches largely incidental, they say a small portion of the security police in Saudi Arabia resort to beatings and arrests to prevent them from occurring during the Hajj.

Recent incidents involving residents of Metro Detroit have some of the pilgrims particularly on edge, this year.

They say that Imam Sayid Hassan al-Qazwini, the leader of the largest mosque in the country, the Islamic Center of America, was accosted last year at the Hajj. After he left Saudi Arabia, his nephew, Jawad al-Qazwini, was beaten, arrested and detained along with a group of other young worshippers from the United States and Great Britain. The group eventually was released after intervention by the British and American embassies.

"What happened to me was very minor," said Qazwini. "The harassment of Shi'a pilgrims is very typical in Saudi Arabia. But it escalates. It turns into physical assault -- like what happened to my nephew, which was a very serious matter."

Other local imams say they share the concerns and make them known to pilgrims under their charge.

"No doubt, we are kind of fearful of the my-way-or-the-highway kind of people," said Imam Mohamad Ali Elahi, the leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights. "But these tend to be isolated incidents, and the Saudis are aware of the kind of damage this can bring to their reputation and the reputation of their country."

Saudi authorities said they grapple with intense security concerns, monitoring 2 million to 3 million worshippers from all over the world gathered in limited areas. Nail al-Jubeir, director of information at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, said he is unaware of the particulars of individual cases. But he vowed that the Saudi government vehemently opposes any abuses.

"As far as any harassment or someone being beaten up or something like that, we will not tolerate it," Jubeir said. "With 2 million people gathered together, we have to be aware of safety, and sometimes in the past people have used the occasion for political purposes. Cooler heads have to prevail."

Sabbagh, the social worker, says she tries to resolve her concerns as part of deepening spiritual practice. It is only a matter of placing oneself in God's hands.

"We have a saying in Arabic, 'insh'Allah': If God is willing," she said.

"I am a strong believer that God has His way, and if anything does happen, hopefully He will give me the strength."