In my childhood, whenever one of the elders mentioned mount Arafat, I would imagine a grand mountain that glowed in the dark and had sparks on its top. My dreamy vision was shattered when I saw it on TV as an adolescent.
It was like any other mountain in Oman, brown and rocky. It wasn’t even high and people could climb it easily. That dawn when I arriving at Arafat, we had to disembark in the middle of the road because of the usual Haj traffic jam. It was still dark and there were no electricity poles in sight which made the stars above really visible. It felt chilly in that barren valley, it was eight degrees centigrade. I was shivering and could barely walk.
Mom held my arm and pulled me gently behind her. Our group divided as the men’s tent was before ours. Only the leader of the group — a bald man with a big beard that I can’t recall his name — remained with us. He led us to our tent, that was as big as the one in Mina. As we entered and he switched on the neon light, I noticed the exercise mattresses scattered around. These were our beddings for the next few hours, without a pillow or blanket in sight. I was imagining myself performing a few crunches before falling asleep, when we heard screams followed by women jumping around.
Right in the middle of the tent, lied a dead rotting dog. Being absolutely delirious by fever, I got closer and stood watching in awe the white maggots coming out of its mouth and nostril. The maggots actually glowed under the neon light and were a sight. One of the Egyptians cried that this was a bad sign and the place was jinxed. Of course, the religious women chided her and ridiculed her words that they considered haram. What was the point of being on Haj if that was her way of thinking? The leader excused himself and brought two other men from the group to help him haul the corpse out of the tent.
The men held the dog from its paws and threw him out, causing maggots to fly and scatter freely on the floor. As expected, the clumsy move caused more screams and jumping around. When the men left, one of the Egyptians cleaned the floor by collecting the rest of the maggots in a tissue. Mom pulled me gently to the back of the tent and I lied down on the cold mattress. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. We were not told to bring our own blankets or warned beforehand about the potential temperature drop at night time.
Mom ended up covering me with all the clothes we had in our duffle bags. Still, I couldn’t feel any warmth and ended up sticking by her side till the sun rose. Thankfully, the fever broke and the weather changed drastically and became so hot. We woke up hearing the women arguing about where to spend the day, in the tent or on the mountain. Which act was more rewarding? Our roommates (the three sisters) decided to head to the mountain. They came back half an hour later.
Not being the sporty types, the elder sister twisted her ankle and the younger pulled a muscle while climbing. For once, we spent the whole day in peace and prayers till sunset. Just before dusk, we gathered our things and got ready to leave to Muzdalafa where we’d collect the stones before heading back to Mecca and Mina once again (to be continued…)
Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of: The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
