Carry a Medical ID at Hajj

If you have health concerns and are considering what to pack for hajj,  make sure you carry an ID bracelet  or necklace with that lists andy life-threatening food or drug allergies, medical conditions  or a rare blood type.  In addition to the traditional medical id bracelets and necklaces, there are new ID products you can consider. 

There is an ID that can fasten through your  shoelaces.  You can have your  medical history saved and stored on a flash drive with universal medical insignia - a device small enough to carry with you on a keychain, bracelet or necklace–and it can be opened and read by any doctor anywhere with access to a computer.

Seek Ramadan Reconcilliations Before Hajj

When we prepare for hajj we should also prepare for death.  No one is guaranteed return from hajj.  We are supposed to put our affairs in order, make our wills, say our goodbyes.  We try to mend fences with those estranged from us–relatives, friends, enemies. Understandably, we often  put these uncomfortable conversations off until the last possible minute.

Ramadan is a good time to begin the process of forgiving, asking forgiveness and reconcilling with others just as we fast and pray and hope for forgiveness from Allah and reconcilliation in our relationship to Allah.

Two Simple and Important Exercises for Hajj

If you are planning to go to hajj, it is not too early to start getting fit and exercising.  Hajj challanges the even the most athletic among us.  The crowds, the heat, the travel conditions and the loss of sleep drain energy from everyone.  So it is important that you make sure that, in as much as is possible for you, that your body is not fighting against you as well. 

To walk around the Kaaba 7 times, and to go back and forth between Safa and Marwah seven times doesn’t sound so bad.   Plan on taking 2 hours to accomplish just that much of your obligations.  If you get winded or tire easily, try to build your stamina. Start taking short walks now and gradually increase the length of your excursions until you can walk 2 hours or longer.

Another fitness concern relates to the restroom facilities.  Once you leave your hotel and start the hajj, you will not have access to the western “throne” type of toilets.  Instead, you will find them built down into the floor.  For older westerners who have lost flexiblity as they aged, it is important to begin re-learning an old skill so that they can use the restrooms comfortably. 

The easiest exercise for this problem is simply to remember that every time you want to pick up your shoes or anything else on the floor, you should squat down instead of bending over.  If you start now, by the time hajj season comes, you should be flexible enough so that you don’t even have to think about it.

Saving Money for Hajj

The cost of making hajj is going up in virtually every country every year.  Saving money to make hajj is difficult.  It may also be a start and stop process, when funds saved for hajj must be withdrawn and utilized for family emergencies instead.  It takes a lot of discipline to not tap into your hajj fund during a crisis,  but if you tap into the fund each time there is a problem, how will you ever save enough to make hajj?  There are no easy or universal answers. Only Allah knows who will be successful in the endeavor.

Some Muslims have tried to invest their money to have enough for hajj, but made the mistake of  putting their money into Western financial instutions instead of Islamic ones.  These Muslims, like many others around the world, have most likely suffered substantial losses in the past year.  Islamic institutions that followed the Shariah did not sustain such heavy losses.  Some companies, like Amana,  even excelled in this last, very tough year. 

For Muslims who are trying to pay off credit cards in addition to, or perhaps instead of saving for hajj, now is a good time to negotiate with credit card companies.  According to a New York Times article, banks are now trying to negotiate settlements rather than having to take a complete loss on the accounts of struggling cardholders.  That news should give some hope for a little financial space, after debts are paid, in which to begin planning for hajj.

Saving for hajj requires the same patience, planning and self-discipline as does the hajj itself.   There are setbacks and hurdles, failures and  successes along the way. And just like the hajj itself, all phases of preparation for hajj need help and guidance from Allah.

On Ihram and Modesty for Muslim Men

This is, unfortunately, a true story related to me by a relative who made hajj some years ago.  The story goes like this:

Among the men in the group, there was a man who, for whatever reason was unaware that the two unstitched cloths of ihram for men were just that and nothing else.  He never realized that ihram meant no underwear.  Try as they  might to reason with him, the other men were unsuccessful in pursuading the man to wear his ihram.  The brother flatly refused to make his hajj if it meant going without his underwear.  So while everyone else in the group went on, this man spent the entire time in the hotel and never made hajj.

Now, it could be that the man had incontinence issues that he did not want to discuss.  That is unfortunate, because Allah is merciful and exception is made for persons with such health problems.  He may have missed hajj because he was embarrassed.  But embarrassment is not a good reason to miss out on Allah’s mercy.

If the issue was modesty, it is well for any man who has such concerns to address them before leaving for hajj by making sure he can put his ihram on properly and move around in it without accidents.  Practice wearing the ihram at home in order to get comfortable standing, sitting on chairs and floor, rising and walking in it.

But do not mistake arrogance for embarrassment or modesty.  We do not know better than Allah concerning the duties and rites that He has decreed for us to observe.  Nor should any of us attempt to choose or reject the tests that Allah gives each of us individually during hajj.   

Remember that all the women on hajj know what you’re wearing (and not wearing) and the women don’t care about you.  They are trying, struggling, praying to get through the rites of hajj themselves.

Be mindful of the modesty of women on hajj as well.  It does no good, in the effort to make your own hajj,  to breach the etiquettes of modesty of others.