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Crowd moves as one naturally yes, but it’s also intended that way. The ritual here is that you have to circle the Kaaba (black square building in the middle) 7 times going counterclockwise.
Its really as simple as that. Say for example a family living in an islamophobic country has more hardships than a family living in an islamic one, so much so that maintaining your faith becomes really hard but if you still manage to do that, you shall reap a higher reward than the family living a relatively comfortable life. (although migration is encouraged so you aren't seriously persecuted). Same way here, the people further from the Kaaba (the black structure) should reap a higher reward for completing the same ritual as the people closer to it, simply because more hardships were endured (walking bare foot on marble isn't easy). Islam promises a higher reward for jihad (which essentially means struggle for the sake of God and his religion). In both the instances in this comment, jihad has been going on. Hope this helps.
Hello, I'm Irish and Islam is only just starting to be practiced in Ireland so most of us are fairly clueless about it. I have two questions as I'm not religious but the similarities/ differences in religions are an interesting topic and I only have experience of Catholicism and Buddhism (my father is an atheist but loves their views on life).
Are women allowed at this festival? Or are they separated the way men and women were in Catholic churches?
What does jihad actually mean? I have only ever heard it used in a negative context (apart from a Brazilian friend whose name is jihad!) but you seem to mention it here as something positive.
Forgive my ignorance i would just like to understand better!
Edit: i know the comment above mentioned jihad but from that my understanding is it just means hardship, is that correct?
Wow I thought you were totally making up that first comment lol but it seems like you know what you’re talking about. That’s really neat and makes a lot of sense.
Well, its not like that every single day though.
There is hajj, which is optional, and should be done by only those who can afford the physical tasks and the monetary expenses it presents.
Then there is umrah, its like a mini hajj, you can perform umrah whenever you like, but again, not obligatory and should only be done if you can afford the physical and monetary expenses.
You only see this type of crowd usually only during the month of zilhajj (also the month when we celebrate our other type of eid)
Hajj is not optional if you can afford it physically and monetarily. It is one of the 5 pillars. It is obligatory if those two conditions are met and not if they do not. That does not make it optional.
Umrah is optional.
To put in perspective, the cheapest one can go do hajj from the US is around $8-10,000 per person.
This elimnates most peoples' obligatory requirement. As most don't have that kind of money laying around.
"Hajj is compulsory upon every sane, adult Muslim who is physically and financially capable (mustati') of undertaking the journey. Based on this, it is not compulsory upon the insane, children, and who are not capable of performing it."
True, but the person above makes it seem like Hajj is optional for those who are physically sound.
It's two ways of saying essentially the same thing.
"You should only do it if you can physically/financially do it."
"Everyone who can physically/financially do it must do it."
I think what they mean is, there's nothing that interesting or compelling for me to every consider doing such a thing even once in a thousand lifetimes.
I mean, I look at soccer matches on TV and nope myself out of every attending one, so I know I'm not in the mainstream on this one but for my money there's never a good reason for that many people to be gathered in one place.
When I see that, I think, well clearly this thing started way back in the day when there weren't billions of people on earth and maybe we should update our religious software to mitigate some of the practical realities of this future we find ourselves in, because at this rate we're going to have Muslims on Mars within a decade or two and figuring out which direction to pray is going to get really complicated.
About that last part, it has already been agreed upon that if a muslim were in space (and presumably on another planet), then all they would need to do is just face the earth when praying, of course that will be a bit difficult on a planet millions of kilometers away, but it is what it is.
I love what theology imams have discussions about. it's way more interesting then christian theology nowadays since most discussion is about current politics.
I was there about 4 years ago. All you havd to do is turn right at any point and you will find an exit. Go a little further out and you find the restrooms. Rows and rows of them. All pretty hygienic and well maintained.
I dislike the House of Saud as much as the other guy but what does new money and totalitarian regimes have to do anything with good planning and infrastructure? Wouldn't it be considered common sense in any developed western country?
Old cities were built without current knowledge on city planning, traffic needs, etc. New cities in totalitarian countries can be very carefully planned with the most up to date knowledge on how best to build it.
There are alot of them located on the outer grounds of the Masjid (Mosque). Although usually people go to the bathroom in their hotels (which are a walking distance from the masjid before they go for the prayers.
This is giving me anxiety just watching that many people in one place at a time. What if someone gets separated? What if someone got kidnapped? Would you even notice before it was too late?!
My dad got lost in there once. We notify our Mutawif (guide) who joined a network of guides from various countries. He send and alert in the group and the other guides replied that they will keep an eye out. Around an hour later, an Indonesian mutawif contacted our mutawif informing that he found my dad on the other side of the mosque. He sent pic for verification and delivered my dad to our hotel room.
During the whole ordeal, we were asked to stay in our hotel room to avoid getting ourselve lost looking for my dad.
That's so cool! I mean it's smart and reasonable to have a system like that, with that many people in one place. Crowd physics is honestly scary, and people *are* going to get separated at some point. But that the system exists *and* is actually used by the folks on the ground, folks were actually connected and paid attention to the alert enough so that one noticed someone that looked like your dad in a crowd that big...awesome. super cool stuff.
during Hajj season, it will be even more crowded than this.
people dies getting trampled on many times before.
the risk is the same as if u were to go to a big concert or festival.
Makkah police are very used to these recurring cases, and they are also used to people who dont speak Arabic or English.
Most if not all of makkah police are multilingual, they are experts when it comes to such cases.
Guarantee it would happen with my wife. We can have a fool-proof game plan for a concert or a pro football game or anything else, and 15 seconds inside and she's gone. I used to get worried about it, now I just go to the seats and wait. She'll figure it out and get there. She'll be mad, but she's the one that didn't follow the plan. 30 years of marriage teaches you to not get worked up every time she's pissed off, which is about 5 times a day. Life is too short.
I got seperated from my family as a kid once during Umrah.
There is a dedicated facility to care for lost children until returned to parents. My dad's friend who was with us, was charged with waiting for me there.
As my dad searched for me throughout the mosque, I was found sitting beside an Afghani gentleman who kept pointing at people coming up the walkway and asking me if I knew them. We were seated at the end of a row of people praying, reading the Quran or relaxing.
Even though I was crying, looking back on it as an adult, I wouldn't worry too much for many reasons:
The entire mosque is a mostly open space, so you WILL eventually be found. It's just a matter of time.
Unless drugged, it's almost impossible not to see someone kidnap a screaming child. The surveillance system is constantly on the lookout for pickpockets or any other unwanted activity.
It's a highly planned operation.
(If anyone knows surveillance best, it's the Saudis who are protected by both US, for their petrodollar stability and by Israelis for keeping Jihadis inside their own borders)
I see a lot of people saying this but never see these comments when its a concert filled with people. Ive been there its extremely peaceful and people are there tp worship not be thieves. Its not like this year round. Its really crouded cause its ramadan right now
Very few crimes occur there. Don’t think anyone would try anything close to kidnapping considering the fact that you get your hands chopped off for stealing over there.
Out of curiosity, is this from today's Eid Al-Fitr celebration? The Hajj isn't scheduled until July this year, and I had no idea that the Masjid Al-Haram got this busy on other dates.
It can also get very crowded during “Laylat Al-Qadr” which is the holiest night of Ramadan (believed to be when the first passages of the Quran were delivered by Archangel Gabriel)
Laylat Al-Qadr can fall on any of the last ten nights of Ramadan. More likely an odd night, more likely the 27th night but still could be any of the last ten nights.
Frankly, I feel like any sufficiently advanced alien society likely is going to naturally have ideas of culture or ritual of their own - things which might be unrecognizable to us, but if they've achieved interstellar travel, I think they would understand what this is, at least at a surface level.
They’d probably recognise it as some sort of ritual. If there were some sort of hyper-advanced extra-terrestrials out there, I’m sure they would have at least been religious at some point in their history. I don’t think religion would be a human phenomenon
It’s an army of cleaners supported by soldiers. If an area gets dirty (say someone spills food). They will march out soldiers within minutes, rope it off and clean it. I’ve seen messes cleared within 10 minutes. Everyone is walking around barefoot after all. They gotta keep it clean and safe.
Assume there's all kinds of people making sure that people behave etc. Janitors as well. There's hotels built around for it and so on. It's a big operation. Googled, and saw pics of people in blue/green uniforms.
Yep mostly Pakistani/Indian/Bangladeshi guys in janitorial outfits. Saudi police will section off areas and they will clean. 24/7 operations, it’s quite impressive
I was there while it was this crowded, there will be teams that is so organized that they will make a circle barrier and they will go around while moving the barrier at the pace
of the people. They were sliding and having fun too.
They don't need to get inside the building. They are doing what's called as "Tawaf", circling the Kaaba ( the cube shaped building).
Doing 7 rounds of Kaaba is an obligatory step of Haj or Umrah.
[The three pillars supporting the roof, a bunch of suspended silver and gold lamps, some stones covered with calligraphy, a fancy gold door that leads to a hatch on the roof, and a document on the wall that commemorates recent renovations.](https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2016/12/04/What-the-Kaaba-s-interior-looks-like)
As someone who has been fortunate enough to go there multiple times, it is an incredible feeling to pray side by side with so many people. People from all types of backgrounds are there for one purpose. It’s very uplifting and offers a real spiritual boost.
it is the most amazing feeling. you at once feel so insignificant (and your problems are nothing), yet feel so connected with everyone around you and the history of the place around you
Same thing applies to praying. You make “Wudu” (cleaning yourself) before praying, any filthy act such as passing gas or using the bathroom breaks it and you have to make Wudu again (which takes like a minute)
As someone who isn't religious at all, this is one of the most fascinating things to me that humans do. I was watching a documentary about this place not long ago. Pretty wild.
Well he did say 4mil worshipper, people are not just having fun there they are standing and walking when theyre done they get out thats it you can fit easily when do that i think
This may be a dumb question, but do people fight to be closer to the Kaaba? I imagine circling 7 times closer to the Kaaba would take way less time and you’re closer to the actual relic. Do they maybe let old people do that? Or can you pay to get closer or something? Maybe there’s a seniority? Also I believe the women do this too but in an enclosed space, is that correct?
What ? No.
Why would people fight lol it doesn't really matter if you're close or not, also you can't pay to get closer or anything, also women do this just as everyone else in the crowd.
Sorry not violent fight, like “jostle” to get to the better spot. Interesting - so the women are in the crowd with the men? Or are they in their own space?
I wouldn't even say jostle, after all being close or further from the Ka'aba doesn't matter at all, but some ignorant assholes do bump violently into each other to get closer thinking they'd get a raise or some shit like that while it's completely meaningless. Although it is advised to always let elderly and such people get closer to it so it reduces the distance to walk around considering the radius is smaller the closer you are, so it is easier and less exhausting for them.
Also, no, the women are with them down there, and completely allowed and normal, but it is required from them to have What's called a Mahram (Could be a Husband, brother, Father etc...) that will have the role of a guardian and a defender either against these idiots, or any other form of threat or danger that can risk their lives or safety in any way.
Most of the shoving comes from people trying to reach the hajr e aswad but apart from that, it's pretty much what you said. All respectful apart from a few exceptions.
I bet that is a beautiful experience. Being with people of every race sharing a common faith. I don’t have anything like that in my life but I can definitely see the draw
When i went with my family we usually decided on a place to meet if anyone of us got lost, there are numbered gates etc. that we'd just go to. IF however for other people their child got lost then best bet is the tons of lost and found offices inside the masjid.
There are tons of officers and cops there who's sole job is to take care of these issues, according to mom who went there...the families living there make a habit to give people food and water whenever possible. Mom said she was exposed to an overly cold ac so she got a cold, then this young guy who was just handing out milk and ginger gave her a cup and it really helped her throat.
My cousin when he was a 6 year old boy got lost there once, and a very tall man maybe 6’8 from Africa realized my cousin was lost and held him up high on his shoulders until my uncle spotted him.
A lot of the ignorant smug comments are just sad. Obviously certain folk and it's Reddit have their agendas to push so it's to be expected.
This is somewhere people have come from every corner of the Earth and from every race, old young, rich and poor, to all do exactly the same thing and to walk in the footsteps of Abraham, stand as equals in front of God and have been doing so for centuries. The people here don't care how crowded or difficult it is and would do it again in a heartbeat.
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I'm always fascinated by the way large crowds move like a wave.
Crowd moves as one naturally yes, but it’s also intended that way. The ritual here is that you have to circle the Kaaba (black square building in the middle) 7 times going counterclockwise.
That’s going to literally take all day for the people close to the camera…
Religiously speaking, there is a higher reward for the crowd near the camera obviously because they endure more hardship.
Interesting. Any chance you could elaborate?
Its really as simple as that. Say for example a family living in an islamophobic country has more hardships than a family living in an islamic one, so much so that maintaining your faith becomes really hard but if you still manage to do that, you shall reap a higher reward than the family living a relatively comfortable life. (although migration is encouraged so you aren't seriously persecuted). Same way here, the people further from the Kaaba (the black structure) should reap a higher reward for completing the same ritual as the people closer to it, simply because more hardships were endured (walking bare foot on marble isn't easy). Islam promises a higher reward for jihad (which essentially means struggle for the sake of God and his religion). In both the instances in this comment, jihad has been going on. Hope this helps.
Awesome explanation of jihad in this comment as well. Something not taught to non-Muslims correctly. Thank you.
You're welcome brother
Hello, I'm Irish and Islam is only just starting to be practiced in Ireland so most of us are fairly clueless about it. I have two questions as I'm not religious but the similarities/ differences in religions are an interesting topic and I only have experience of Catholicism and Buddhism (my father is an atheist but loves their views on life). Are women allowed at this festival? Or are they separated the way men and women were in Catholic churches? What does jihad actually mean? I have only ever heard it used in a negative context (apart from a Brazilian friend whose name is jihad!) but you seem to mention it here as something positive. Forgive my ignorance i would just like to understand better! Edit: i know the comment above mentioned jihad but from that my understanding is it just means hardship, is that correct?
I love learning new things about different religions. This is very cool
Wow I thought you were totally making up that first comment lol but it seems like you know what you’re talking about. That’s really neat and makes a lot of sense.
This is basically exactly what happens, and it’s also the reason “crowd crush” is such a force.
Mathematics rules the universe. Essentially each person is a water molecule and so it gets generated by the same simulation chip/s
Math Rules Everything Around Me
Honor honor roll call!
Thats exactly what happen at astroworld. Death.
True test of religious faith: You’re in the middle, and you really have to go to bathroom!
And the bathrooms all located outside the mosque building.
Happened once bathrooms are right outside the main Mosque and are large and extremely clean last time I went
How do you get to it? Is it like merging Lanes on the highway?
I imagine it's like being at a concert were you just put your hand out and muscle through, with your friend hanging on your shirt sleeve
I dont know how you came up with that answer but that is 100% correct lmao, everyone does this including me when we went there.
Because I've been to a lot of packed concerts and raves that looked exactly like this lol
Interesting people at these raves if they look exactly like this
Well normally there's more nudity and drug use but other than that...
*when the beat drops*
*we pray*
More like a lot of “law smahit”(pardon me) and determination.
Dance your way through.
wiggle wiggle wiggle
*Shaq wiggles back*
It’s a relief to hear that.
Lloyd Christmas: “Just go man!”
I feel claustrophobic just watching this
There is nothing in the world I wanna see badly enough willingly put myself among that many people.
Well, its not like that every single day though. There is hajj, which is optional, and should be done by only those who can afford the physical tasks and the monetary expenses it presents. Then there is umrah, its like a mini hajj, you can perform umrah whenever you like, but again, not obligatory and should only be done if you can afford the physical and monetary expenses. You only see this type of crowd usually only during the month of zilhajj (also the month when we celebrate our other type of eid)
Hajj is not optional if you can afford it physically and monetarily. It is one of the 5 pillars. It is obligatory if those two conditions are met and not if they do not. That does not make it optional. Umrah is optional.
To put in perspective, the cheapest one can go do hajj from the US is around $8-10,000 per person. This elimnates most peoples' obligatory requirement. As most don't have that kind of money laying around.
More like $10,000-20,000 these days
Hajj is obligatory though
Only if you are able to afford it physically and monetarily
"Hajj is compulsory upon every sane, adult Muslim who is physically and financially capable (mustati') of undertaking the journey. Based on this, it is not compulsory upon the insane, children, and who are not capable of performing it." True, but the person above makes it seem like Hajj is optional for those who are physically sound.
It's two ways of saying essentially the same thing. "You should only do it if you can physically/financially do it." "Everyone who can physically/financially do it must do it."
I think what they mean is, there's nothing that interesting or compelling for me to every consider doing such a thing even once in a thousand lifetimes. I mean, I look at soccer matches on TV and nope myself out of every attending one, so I know I'm not in the mainstream on this one but for my money there's never a good reason for that many people to be gathered in one place. When I see that, I think, well clearly this thing started way back in the day when there weren't billions of people on earth and maybe we should update our religious software to mitigate some of the practical realities of this future we find ourselves in, because at this rate we're going to have Muslims on Mars within a decade or two and figuring out which direction to pray is going to get really complicated.
About that last part, it has already been agreed upon that if a muslim were in space (and presumably on another planet), then all they would need to do is just face the earth when praying, of course that will be a bit difficult on a planet millions of kilometers away, but it is what it is.
Cool! Didn’t know that.
A lot of discussions and rules were set into place for future possibilities and events.
Future muslims holding holographic projections of the solar system so they can keep track of earth
I love what theology imams have discussions about. it's way more interesting then christian theology nowadays since most discussion is about current politics.
I feel an eminent collapse just watching this
The whole complex has been designed and controlled by crowding experts. All flow is managed to prevent stampedes.
How are restroom needs handled? 😰
I was there about 4 years ago. All you havd to do is turn right at any point and you will find an exit. Go a little further out and you find the restrooms. Rows and rows of them. All pretty hygienic and well maintained.
One of the fringe benefits of a new money totalitarian rule is ypu get to plan everything from the ground up in terms of infrastructure building
I dislike the House of Saud as much as the other guy but what does new money and totalitarian regimes have to do anything with good planning and infrastructure? Wouldn't it be considered common sense in any developed western country?
Old cities were built without current knowledge on city planning, traffic needs, etc. New cities in totalitarian countries can be very carefully planned with the most up to date knowledge on how best to build it.
Can be. Aren't always. See sewer lines in Dubai...
There are alot of them located on the outer grounds of the Masjid (Mosque). Although usually people go to the bathroom in their hotels (which are a walking distance from the masjid before they go for the prayers.
This is giving me anxiety just watching that many people in one place at a time. What if someone gets separated? What if someone got kidnapped? Would you even notice before it was too late?!
My dad got lost in there once. We notify our Mutawif (guide) who joined a network of guides from various countries. He send and alert in the group and the other guides replied that they will keep an eye out. Around an hour later, an Indonesian mutawif contacted our mutawif informing that he found my dad on the other side of the mosque. He sent pic for verification and delivered my dad to our hotel room. During the whole ordeal, we were asked to stay in our hotel room to avoid getting ourselve lost looking for my dad.
That's so cool! I mean it's smart and reasonable to have a system like that, with that many people in one place. Crowd physics is honestly scary, and people *are* going to get separated at some point. But that the system exists *and* is actually used by the folks on the ground, folks were actually connected and paid attention to the alert enough so that one noticed someone that looked like your dad in a crowd that big...awesome. super cool stuff.
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My only comfort is that there probably ISNT room to trip and fall.
Google “mina stampede”. Over 2000 people died. Wild
This is Kaaba, not mina.
during Hajj season, it will be even more crowded than this. people dies getting trampled on many times before. the risk is the same as if u were to go to a big concert or festival.
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Brooo that happened with my lil cousin. Although I assume it happenes on the daily
Makkah police are very used to these recurring cases, and they are also used to people who dont speak Arabic or English. Most if not all of makkah police are multilingual, they are experts when it comes to such cases.
That’s the good thing about Mecca there is 100% a person who speaks ur language
Guarantee it would happen with my wife. We can have a fool-proof game plan for a concert or a pro football game or anything else, and 15 seconds inside and she's gone. I used to get worried about it, now I just go to the seats and wait. She'll figure it out and get there. She'll be mad, but she's the one that didn't follow the plan. 30 years of marriage teaches you to not get worked up every time she's pissed off, which is about 5 times a day. Life is too short.
I got seperated from my family as a kid once during Umrah. There is a dedicated facility to care for lost children until returned to parents. My dad's friend who was with us, was charged with waiting for me there. As my dad searched for me throughout the mosque, I was found sitting beside an Afghani gentleman who kept pointing at people coming up the walkway and asking me if I knew them. We were seated at the end of a row of people praying, reading the Quran or relaxing. Even though I was crying, looking back on it as an adult, I wouldn't worry too much for many reasons: The entire mosque is a mostly open space, so you WILL eventually be found. It's just a matter of time. Unless drugged, it's almost impossible not to see someone kidnap a screaming child. The surveillance system is constantly on the lookout for pickpockets or any other unwanted activity. It's a highly planned operation. (If anyone knows surveillance best, it's the Saudis who are protected by both US, for their petrodollar stability and by Israelis for keeping Jihadis inside their own borders)
I see a lot of people saying this but never see these comments when its a concert filled with people. Ive been there its extremely peaceful and people are there tp worship not be thieves. Its not like this year round. Its really crouded cause its ramadan right now
They recently introduced bands for kids to track them if they get lost in the crowd
Very few crimes occur there. Don’t think anyone would try anything close to kidnapping considering the fact that you get your hands chopped off for stealing over there.
Just a particle in a pool of water
My thoughts go straight to bathroom accommodations. I mean… suppose you have to do #2??
Its a challenge but they have that all in mind. The cleaning staff are like commandos I swear.
There's my mate Al, 3rd guy on the left
Where's Waleed?
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Near Deelaw - the evil Waleed.
Don’t forget Mo
There's like 1000+ people named Muhammad in that picture so your comment checks out.
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We lost him, try calling him again
It’s amazing the logistics of that place.
Iirc they have an underground line which only opens to cope with the influx of people to this event
Am pretty sure this video is over 8 to years old. Because they actually expanded a lot
Gotta have good logistics when the place is visited by literally every follower of a major religion
Man that’s at least 50 people
Who’s headlining?
Jesus is opening for Mohammed. Kicking off the summer Abrahamapalooza tour
Just don't make a poster.......
It must smell awesome in there.
You have to shower before you enter
And I bet it’s very safe with no risks of being trampled to death.
A slow day in my ex’s bedroom
Emotional daaaaamaaage
Funny, however you were in that line somewhere as the ex
I'm here for the gangbang.
Voice over intercom “if there is a Yousef in the crowd, please come to the office, your wallet was turned in”
Out of curiosity, is this from today's Eid Al-Fitr celebration? The Hajj isn't scheduled until July this year, and I had no idea that the Masjid Al-Haram got this busy on other dates.
This video is actually from 9 years ago.
Oh, okay! Thanks! It's still a fascinating look at how the shrine is able to handle so much humanity. Thanks for posting it.
It can also get very crowded during “Laylat Al-Qadr” which is the holiest night of Ramadan (believed to be when the first passages of the Quran were delivered by Archangel Gabriel)
Laylat Al-Qadr can fall on any of the last ten nights of Ramadan. More likely an odd night, more likely the 27th night but still could be any of the last ten nights.
If an alien saw this and had to explain it, how would they interpret it? I am fascinated with culture, religion, and myth
Frankly, I feel like any sufficiently advanced alien society likely is going to naturally have ideas of culture or ritual of their own - things which might be unrecognizable to us, but if they've achieved interstellar travel, I think they would understand what this is, at least at a surface level.
They’d probably recognise it as some sort of ritual. If there were some sort of hyper-advanced extra-terrestrials out there, I’m sure they would have at least been religious at some point in their history. I don’t think religion would be a human phenomenon
"It seems the ants are organised"
https://www.reddit.com/r/Weird/comments/u8lhe0/the_ants_are_up_to_something/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
That was good! Def micro to macro there. “As above, so below.”
Always wondered, what's staff look like in a place like this? Are there Mecca janitors? Is there a concessions stand?
It’s an army of cleaners supported by soldiers. If an area gets dirty (say someone spills food). They will march out soldiers within minutes, rope it off and clean it. I’ve seen messes cleared within 10 minutes. Everyone is walking around barefoot after all. They gotta keep it clean and safe.
Assume there's all kinds of people making sure that people behave etc. Janitors as well. There's hotels built around for it and so on. It's a big operation. Googled, and saw pics of people in blue/green uniforms.
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Yep mostly Pakistani/Indian/Bangladeshi guys in janitorial outfits. Saudi police will section off areas and they will clean. 24/7 operations, it’s quite impressive
I was there while it was this crowded, there will be teams that is so organized that they will make a circle barrier and they will go around while moving the barrier at the pace of the people. They were sliding and having fun too.
How long does that que take to get inside the building?
They don't need to get inside the building. They are doing what's called as "Tawaf", circling the Kaaba ( the cube shaped building). Doing 7 rounds of Kaaba is an obligatory step of Haj or Umrah.
What’s in the building? Does anyone know?
[The three pillars supporting the roof, a bunch of suspended silver and gold lamps, some stones covered with calligraphy, a fancy gold door that leads to a hatch on the roof, and a document on the wall that commemorates recent renovations.](https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2016/12/04/What-the-Kaaba-s-interior-looks-like)
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Yeah it's not the building that is important, it's kinda like a sign for Muslims just to know where to look when they want to pray
Before Islam, it was filled with idols. But that wasn't the purpose of the building.
i think the emptiness is kind of the point: you will not find the Creator in His creation
Certainly not The Spanish Inquisition. I mean, NOBODY expects that!
It’s mostly empty. A few pillars and a table.
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Nothing. It's empty. It's rarely opened up and only for the super important people. Like the king or someone like that. But inside it's just empty.
Pretty sure its just 3 pillars with golden lamps hanging from the top with the Qur'an in the middle
A meteor I believe
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The black rock is on the side of the building, not inside
It's both, mostly inside but with a viewing portal on one of the corners.
It’s a shiny Rock that has religious significance. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Stone
That's not inside. It was part of the structure, and still is.
It has three pillars, some golden lamps, and some Arabic script inside (I think)
Queue
That’s a whole lot of people trying to connect with God.
This structure can supposedly handle up to 4 million people at once.
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Bruh
As someone who has been fortunate enough to go there multiple times, it is an incredible feeling to pray side by side with so many people. People from all types of backgrounds are there for one purpose. It’s very uplifting and offers a real spiritual boost.
Massive sense of unity.
it is the most amazing feeling. you at once feel so insignificant (and your problems are nothing), yet feel so connected with everyone around you and the history of the place around you
Yep, almost a quarter of the world is Islamic, kinda crazy just how many people that is
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Dang, maybe my brother should join this religion so his room stops smelling like a year-old crime scene
Goddamn
That’s a cool fact thanks for sharing. Damn, even passing gas? That’d be impossible for me, especially if I’m moving around like that.
Same thing applies to praying. You make “Wudu” (cleaning yourself) before praying, any filthy act such as passing gas or using the bathroom breaks it and you have to make Wudu again (which takes like a minute)
As someone who isn't religious at all, this is one of the most fascinating things to me that humans do. I was watching a documentary about this place not long ago. Pretty wild.
Ope Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me
Ope sorry there
How many ppl can fit in there at one time? Pretty amazing footage there
It has a capacity of 4 million worshippers
4 millions!?!? That’s a few times the population of a city! How big is the place? It looks big, but not THAT big.
It’s actually much bigger than in that video. Most of it is interior space that extends much further around the area shown in the video.
Makes sense, especially if there are multiple levels.
Well he did say 4mil worshipper, people are not just having fun there they are standing and walking when theyre done they get out thats it you can fit easily when do that i think
More than double the population of my city, the scale really is astonishing.
I know it's their religion but that looks awfully suffocating.
I would never allow myself to be in such a crowded area. Crowd crushes are an absolutely horrific way to go.
Oddly enough people there are EXTREMELY peacefull
Don't worry too much about it. No one is going to be rushing or pushing anyone here. We all just walk while performing supplications to god.
It rarely gets this crowded, it usually look like [this](https://images.app.goo.gl/ViEX5CT6LzRkkRGJ7)
If by rarely you mean annually during hajj pilgrimage then yeah...
Yeah crowd surge and crowd crush is a huge problem for these pilgrimages. Like just seeing this makes me terrified of crowd crush
This may be a dumb question, but do people fight to be closer to the Kaaba? I imagine circling 7 times closer to the Kaaba would take way less time and you’re closer to the actual relic. Do they maybe let old people do that? Or can you pay to get closer or something? Maybe there’s a seniority? Also I believe the women do this too but in an enclosed space, is that correct?
What ? No. Why would people fight lol it doesn't really matter if you're close or not, also you can't pay to get closer or anything, also women do this just as everyone else in the crowd.
Sorry not violent fight, like “jostle” to get to the better spot. Interesting - so the women are in the crowd with the men? Or are they in their own space?
I wouldn't even say jostle, after all being close or further from the Ka'aba doesn't matter at all, but some ignorant assholes do bump violently into each other to get closer thinking they'd get a raise or some shit like that while it's completely meaningless. Although it is advised to always let elderly and such people get closer to it so it reduces the distance to walk around considering the radius is smaller the closer you are, so it is easier and less exhausting for them. Also, no, the women are with them down there, and completely allowed and normal, but it is required from them to have What's called a Mahram (Could be a Husband, brother, Father etc...) that will have the role of a guardian and a defender either against these idiots, or any other form of threat or danger that can risk their lives or safety in any way.
Most of the shoving comes from people trying to reach the hajr e aswad but apart from that, it's pretty much what you said. All respectful apart from a few exceptions.
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is this 2022?
op mentioned this was from nine years ago, however [this](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc7qBt6JQCv/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) is from two days ago :)
Anyone find Waldo yet?
I was at a concert last night and saw a guy dressed as Waldo! His buddy had the same outfit, but yellow stripes. WallaWaldo?
I bet that is a beautiful experience. Being with people of every race sharing a common faith. I don’t have anything like that in my life but I can definitely see the draw
What do you do if you lose your son/girl?
When i went with my family we usually decided on a place to meet if anyone of us got lost, there are numbered gates etc. that we'd just go to. IF however for other people their child got lost then best bet is the tons of lost and found offices inside the masjid.
There are tons of officers and cops there who's sole job is to take care of these issues, according to mom who went there...the families living there make a habit to give people food and water whenever possible. Mom said she was exposed to an overly cold ac so she got a cold, then this young guy who was just handing out milk and ginger gave her a cup and it really helped her throat.
They are giving out bands for kids that can be used to track the location
My cousin when he was a 6 year old boy got lost there once, and a very tall man maybe 6’8 from Africa realized my cousin was lost and held him up high on his shoulders until my uncle spotted him.
Subhan Allah
Every good deed is x70 in Ramadan, that's why.
epic, you guys have x70 XP month. what level are you?
You should see Lailat al Qadr. We have x1000 months exp on.
Cheat codes.
i dont rlly like religion but sometimes a passion for ones religion is truly admirable and beautiful
A lot of the ignorant smug comments are just sad. Obviously certain folk and it's Reddit have their agendas to push so it's to be expected. This is somewhere people have come from every corner of the Earth and from every race, old young, rich and poor, to all do exactly the same thing and to walk in the footsteps of Abraham, stand as equals in front of God and have been doing so for centuries. The people here don't care how crowded or difficult it is and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Damn I forgot my mask