Hajj. At it again.

Jan 2006: Stampede at Jamarat kills over 360 people and injures over 289. Collapse of Makkah hostel housing pilgrims kills 76.

Feb. 1, 2004: 244 pilgrims killed and a similar number injured, some critically, in a stampede during the devil-stoning ritual.

March 5, 2001: 35 killed in stampede during stoning of the devil ritual in Mina.

April 9, 1998: About 180 pilgrims were trampled to death when panic erupted after several fell off an overpass during the stoning of the devil ritual in Mina.

April 15, 1997: Fires driven by high winds tear through a sprawling, overcrowded tent city at Mina, trapping and killing more than 340 pilgrims and injuring 1,500. Aid workers and diplomats said the death toll was at least 500.

May 23, 1994: 270 pilgrims, most of them Indonesian, killed in stampede in Mecca as worshippers surge toward cavern for symbolic ritual of “stoning the devil.”

July 2, 1990: 1,426 pilgrims, many of them Malaysians, Indonesian and Pakistanis, killed in Mecca stampede in overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites.

July 9, 1989: Two bombs explode in Mecca , killing one pilgrim, wounding 16. Saudi authorities blame Iranian-inspired terrorists and later behead 16 Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims for bombings. Iran denied involvement.

July 31, 1987: 402 people, mostly Iranian pilgrims, killed and 649 wounded in Mecca when security forces clash with Iranian staging illegal anti-U.S. demonstration.

Nov. 20, 1979: About 1,200 Sunni Muslim extremists storm the Grand Mosque in Mecca in what Saudi officials later said was an attempt to kidnap King Khalid and force him to abdicate. Some 75 extremists, including their leader, killed in battle around 38-acre complex. Another 170 captured and many beheaded. Scores of Saudi military personnel were also slain.


Another year. Another disaster. Even with the quota system in place to prevent overcrowding, an increase in the number of pilgrims is witnessed each year. An increase with tragic results; stampedes accounting for over two-and-a-half thousand deaths in the last fifteen years including 650 in the last five.

Stampedes, as it turns out, can be held accountable for majority of the fatalities. It is for that reason that scholars have recommended restricting the number of Hajjs performed by an individual to one, not only to limit the crowd but also give others a chance to perform the pilgrimage. Muslims who have already performed Hajj should donate the cost to those who are dying from starvation, or to help build a school for those who are unable to educate their children.

Suggestions are coming in to expand the time-frame in which the Pebble-Throwing ritual can be performed; from sunrise to very late at night. And instead of performing it themselves, the weak and elderly can delegate someone to perform this ritual on their behalf thus making the process quicker and more efficient. This should limit the tumult that is often witnessed and has resulted in stampede-related casualties.

Saudi officials have already increased security presence this year to prevent accidents and provide assistance, supplied more fire-proof tents to prevent a repeat of the ’97 fires and have food and water stalls readily available.

Given that the majority of pilgrims are from outside Saudi Arabia, it should be the duty of all Muslim nations to fund the organizing of Hajj as well as chalking out a definite plan to combat stampedes and accidents.

Scholars in every country should talk to the pilgrims and join them in their pilgrimage, if possible, so as to teach them the importance of gentleness and serenity throughout these blessed days which would avoid a repeat of the stampede scenes been witnessed.

Hajj goers each year should go through an orientation process outlining the realities that are present at Hajj – heat exhaustion, trampling, lack of room and space etc. They should be told to look out for one another and various worse-case scenarios should be in constant practice by the authorities.

Better planning, share of ownership from the entire Muslim world, an increase in the available funds, limiting the number of pilgrims and Hajj can be a disaster-free event on the Muslim calendar.

God willing, of course.

© Faras Ghani 2006