Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Haj is not only a life changing experience but also a unique opportunity to disseminate the true image of Islam in a world where the divine religion is unjustly linked to terrorism and extremism, according to an Indian journalist. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Asim Kamal of Press Trust of India said that Haj is actually an annual workshop for world Muslims on how to foster Islam’s lofty values of equality, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in the contemporary world marred by terror acts of a few misguided youth.



Kamal, who performed Haj as part of the international media guests hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Information, said that media persons from all corners of the world have got an opportunity to see closely what are the underlying principles in Haj and know how people were interacting each other. “Over two million pilgrims, who represent 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, gathered together in one place and moved together from one Holy Site to another, with a single mantra of seeking God’s pleasure and forgiveness, and lending a helping hand each other.”



He emphasized that the media guests should become ambassadors of propagating true values of Islam and tell the people back home about the sublime image of Islam as they saw and experienced in Haj. Having shared room with a pilgrim from Bosnia, Kamal said, he was able to get a perspective about the Muslims in the war-ravaged Balkan country. “Sitting down with people of so many different countries and continents, and listening to their problems and experiences  would completely change your perspective and make you realize that you have to project what noble messages the Haj pilgrimage is conveying and teaching us. A section of the media has also been involved in maligning Islam and hence, it is the duty of Muslim journalists to project the true image of Islam and its lofty ideals that were truly portrayed in Haj,” he said.



Kamal said he will carry this message and will disseminate it in India’s 1.25 billion-strong pluralist society.



Kamal says performance of Haj at the age of 29 is a rare honor and a great blessing for him in the material sense too. “An honor in the sense that I got the information from the Saudi ministry just three days before departure as a lone Indian media delegate and a great blessing in the sense that I was blessed with a baby girl while I was in Arafat Friday afternoon praying to Allah Almighty. I named her Mariam. Thus, wuqoof at Arafat, the spiritual climax of Haj, was an embodiment of perfection of both my material and spiritual feelings.”



As Muslims by birth, he said, we have always been told about how Haj, the fifth pillar of Islam. “Obviously, I learned about Haj and its rituals but only after coming here, I could realize the actual scale of this spiritual event. Gathering together of over two million people from different cultures and speaking different languages chanting one mantra and their goal is one and the same. This is a feeling that cannot be expressed in words. As a journalist, I am a witness to the superb organization of Haj pilgrimage. There is no religious or other event in the magnitude of Haj organized anywhere in the world.”



Kamal praised the Saudi authorities for the work they put in. “Their organizational skill is absolutely par excellence. Haj was an incident-free mammoth event, which has no parallel in the world. It is not only the gathering of the largest number of people in one place but also their movement in the same direction at a time with a single motto, which is remarkable.”



Kamal also spoke about the spirit of humanity underlined in the pilgrimage. “What touched me most was the joining together of people of different nationalities, colors, languages and economic and social backgrounds. I saw people helping each other even though they don’t know and cannot communicate well with each other. That is the spirit of Islam and Haj. Certain sections of the media wrongly associate Islam with terrorism and violence but this is the real Islam and this is what Islam teaches.”



The New Delhi-based journalist was excited with the Saudi hospitality. “It was amazing to see that Saudi officials opened their hearts out for us. During stoning rituals, I saw several security personnel spraying water on pilgrims to cool them down in hot temperatures. These kinds of gestures speak volumes about their hospitality and willingness to serve Hajis.”



Kamal, who hails from Lucknow, the capital of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, sees no danger for media work in India under the new rule of Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi. “Freedom of press faces no immediate challenge in India, the largest democracy in the world. The media continues to remain free even after the change of government,” he added.