This is the week that millions of Muslims from all over the world will converge on the holy cities of Mecca and Mina.  The annual unbroken ceremony stretches back 1 400 years, after Mohammed commanded his followers to observe a pilgrimage to the beginning of Islam to strengthen their faith.  Visiting Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam, and anyone who can afford to perform hajj is compelled by his faith to do so.

South Africa has more than a million Muslims, and every Muslim looks forward, all his life, to a journey to Mecca.  Muslims in different areas of the country perceive it differently – the Muslims of Durban, for instance, see it as a greatly desired trip, but for the Muslims of the Cape it is a huge achievement.  The pilgrim is seen as a hero in his community.  His friends and neighbours visit him for weeks beforehand, giving him money and gifts for the journey.  It is ‘his turn’ and the whole neighbourhood becomes part of the ritual and expectation.  Next year it will be someone else’s turn to go, and the neighbourhood will be in ferment once again.

The ritual of hajj comes from a Biblical story that Christians will also recognise;  the sacrifice of Abraham.  Islam, however, has a different version:  Abraham and his wife Hagar longed for children but were too old.  They placed their faith in God, who sent them a son.  The Bible calls the son Isaac, the Muslim writings call him Ishmael.  Immediately after the child was born, God told Abraham to go on a pilgrimage.  The husband and wife and new-born child set off on their journey, and when they reached a barren plain in the middle of Arabia, the Lord told Abraham to leave his wife and new-born child behind and go further on his own.  There was no food or water on this barren plain, so it appeared that Abraham’s wife and child were doomed to die of thirst.  But again, they placed their trust in God. 

Abraham had hardly disappeared over the horizon, however, when a well gushed out of the ground and the family were saved from a thirsty death.  It was said that the well was dug by the Angel Gabriel, who also brought a stone from Paradise, the Black Stone, to form the core of the city of Mecca. 

Years later the Lord tested Abraham’s faith by ordering him to kill Ishmael as a sacrifice.  The Patriarch did not question this ordinance, even though the Devil came seven times to Abraham to persuade him to disobey.  Abraham responded by stoning the Devil seven times, and this is the basis for the stoning ritual during hajj. 
Everybody knows that Ishmael (or Isaac) was saved at the last minute by the appearance of another sacrifice, but this episode proved the great loyalty of Abraham to his faith.  God made him His companion, and Abraham went on to father the seven tribes of Israel. 

The hajj, therefore, is an affirmation of faith in the very spot where Abraham had his faith tested, and the rituals remind the Muslim of the reasons for his belief.
According to the Hajj Watch, however, South Africans observe a peculiar and controversial system with regard to hajj.  The South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) sets an annual quota for pilgrims in negotiation with the Saudi government, the only country in the world to do so. 

This quota has been in existence for four years and has created a monopolistic set-up where only travel agents who are registered with the SAHUC may offer hajj packages.  The Saudi Government will only give visas to hajj pilgrims who have booked through these accredited agencies and, as a result of this monopoly, the prices are exceptionally high.  The SAHUC also gives itself the right to levy fees and licences connected with the journey.  The average hajj package is around R60 000, with a luxury package being R100 000. 

The logistics around Hajj are quite stupendous.  Every Muslim in the world is enjoined to go at least once, and wealthy Muslims try to go more than once.  Every year, between four and five million people converge on Mecca and Mina during the five days of hajj, and the day when the ritual takes place on the mountain of Ararat, everyone is expected to converge in the same place on the same day.  The ritual stoning of the Devil can, by contrast, take place over three days.  Invalid Muslims are transported in helicopters or ambulances. 

Because of the logistics, travellers are expected to arrive in the country well in advance and to stay for several days afterwards in order to space out the travel arrangements.   

An annual get-together of more than four million people – with travel, accommodation, transport, access to venues, fees, baggage-handling, crowd control, provision of food and water – makes the soccer World Cup seem a little mingy by comparison.  But with monopolies, price-fixing, exorbitant fees, and huge logistics it appears that the hajj and the World Cup have quite a bit in common.