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.

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.

 Journey to Mecca is a 45 minute IMAX film that chronicles the hajj of 14th century scholar Ibn Battuta and also brings the only aerial footage of hajj approved by King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia.  The film is in Arabic and English and is currently playing in Dearborn, Michigan among other cities around the world.  The film premiered in January 2009 in Dubai. Journey to Mecca was voted the most popular film at the 2009 at the La Géode Film Festival in France.

Contact information about hosting the film for children and in other cities can be found on the Journey to Mecca  website. 

A meeting of Arab health ministers  took place in Egypt last week. Recommendations adopted there may place restrictions on who may make hajj this year.  It is not certain yet which countries will place the recommendations into effect. In an effort to disrupt the spread of  the H1N1 swine flu virus,  Muslims with chronic illnesses, under 12 or over 65 may  be banned from hajj.

Authorities in Egypt, India and Pakistan have said that bureaucratic problems arising from efforts to enforce the ban while simultaneously fulfilling alloted hajj quotas would present many difficulties for their respective countries. Over 20% of hajj applicants in each these countries is over 65 years old.

Guidelines for those planning to make hajj in 2009 can be found at the Ministry of Hajj.  Do not leave getting your immunizations until the last minute.  Depending on where you are traveling from, you may be advised to have immunizations against yellow fever, or to get a single 500 mg dose of ciprofloxacin. Immunizations received within less than 10 days arrival in Saudia Arabia will not be accepted and you will not get to make hajj. Also look at other recommendations for immunizations for adults and children.

The Salma K. Farid Academy, a Muslim school in Conneticut, staged a hajj reenactment with its students last year and plan to make it an annual event.  The schools head administrator, Ponn M Sabra noted that acting out the hajj gave children a better understanding of the rites than did just reading or memorizing the details of it.

Seeing  their children reenact the hajj made the event was especially meaningful for the parents who had already made hajj themselves.  Children whose parents were away making hajj gained a better understanding of what their parents how their parents fulfilled this pillar of Islam.

The Hajj Ministry is making it known that the all efforts are being made to ease concerns about hajj during the swine flu outbreak.  Before the epidemic began, the Saudia government had already made upgrades in hospital and health care available to hajjis.  Hajj officials stress that they are experienced in successfully handling contagious illnesses and are taking every precaution during this hajj season.

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.

Here is  information about what happens to the animal you paid to have sacrificed during hajj.  If there are 30 people or more, one of their party actually go to the slaughterhouse on behalf of the group .  On that same site, you can find why each animal is priced the way it is: 

The price per head of sheep includes the cost of the animal and the contribution of the pilgrim towards the cost of Shari’ah and veterinary-related services, as well as the cost of slaughtering, skinning, cleaning and transportation of meat for distribution to the eligible poor.

The Saudi government is working to improve conditions for hajj.  Improvements come in both services and infrastructure.  Among the service upgrades, there will be more ATMs and pharmacies available during hajj this year.

A lot of building is also going on to improve the infrastructure in and around the hajj precincts.  Construction is proceeding on the Jamarat bridge, and other projects that may be ready for the 2009 hajj include:

…potential housing for pilgrims on the foothills of Mina mountains; the southern railway project; improving guidance in the holy sites; designing, planning and improving toilets; connecting the Shabain and Muaisim areas to the entry and exit of the Jamrat Bridge’s third floor; and connecting Al Aziziyah District to the bridge’s fourth floor….

Another big improvement will be the construction of a new hospital  as workers will begin “…demolishing Mina Al Wadi Hospital… to build a new 136-bed hospital in its place. This project will take less than a year and the new hospital will be operational during Hajj 2009“.