Journey to Makkah, already available in German and Arabic, is much more than an account of the author's pilgrimages to the holy places of Islam, Makkah and Madinah. It is a vivid description-based on personal (frequently quite adventurous or funny) experience of what it means to put into practice the five pillars of Islam in even the most mundane fields of life. After patiently waiting in line at Casablanca Airport, it was finally our turn at the counter. After checking in our scant luggage, the clerk casually suggested that we either return the 80 miles to Rabat, or while away the hours in Casablanca. This was his way of letting us know that the SAUDIA jumbo jet from Dakar, which had been expected to arrive here about an hour ago, had not even made it to Dakar yet. Under normal circumstances, such a situation would have likely sparked resentment, even protest. However, all of the passengers—the majority a them women—was pilgrims bound for Makkah, ever mindful of the Qur’an's admonition: “Let there be no sexual relations, nor sin, nor dispute during the Hajj” (2:1971) It is a pilgrim's highest duty to exercise patience, and to nip any impending quarrel in the bud. He must not injure anybody or anything, not even pluck a leaf of grass, or kill a mosquito. Therefore, the mood at the counter remained quite civilized and quiet. Eventually, the departure was postponed from the evening of May 28, to early the following morning. But among the pilgrims no one was about to leave the Mohammed terminal. Who was going to risk missing the most import flight of his life? Every one of us had already received the traditional farewell visits from our friends and neighbors, which served to remind everybody that in the old days a Moroccan's 8,000 miles long round-trip to the holy sites in the Hijaz would last as long as a year, and that for many a pilgrim this would be a journey without return. Indeed, we were not going to return to Rabat except as hujjaj—as Muslims who had fulfilled their duty to pay a visit to the "House of God” (Bayt Allah) in Makkah.
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