Ali Had a Little Lamb

A lamb in the back of a pickup truck is a common sight here in Saudi Arabia, especially around the holidays. This past week was one of the two holidays here in the kingdom.  When the annual Hajj pilgrimage concludes, there is a celebration called Eid al-Adha, Feast of the Sacrifice.  Normally millions of Muslims come from all over the world to perform Hajj - but not this year, though, due to the virus. This year only Muslims within the kingdom were permitted to attend. International travel to and from the kingdom has been banned since March. 

About Eid al-Adha, according to Wikipedia - "It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God's command. But, before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead. In commemoration of this intervention, an animal, usually a sheep, is sacrificed ritually. One third of its meat is consumed by the family offering the sacrifice, while the rest is distributed to the poor and needy. Sweets and gifts are given, and extended family are typically visited and welcomed."

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Jeddah Airport Road Sign

Jeddah's airport has four terminals - North, South, New, and Hajj.  Right now due to the Corona Virus, all international flights have been suspended indefinitely.  Some domestic flights resumed a few weeks ago.  The annual Hajj pilgrimage, when Muslims around the world travel to Saudi Arabia's holy cities of Makkah and Medina, will be different this year. Only Muslims who are already within Saudi Arabia will be allowed to attend in an attempt to curb the virus. 

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SkyWatch - Jeddah Tented Mall

This building is a mall with a tented rooftop.  These special roofs are made of a fiberglass fabric with a teflon coating of fluorocarbon resin, originally invented by NASA to withstand extreme hot temperatures.

There are many structures in Saudi Arabia that have these tented roofs, including the current Jeddah airport's open air Hajj Terminal, which provide much needed shade as well as reflecting 75% of the solar radiation. The special design of the terminal, which has open sides (no walls) and openings at the top of each tent point, also promotes cirulation of air flow which cools the air.  In Mecca there are similar large structures covered with tented roofs to accommodate thousands of religious pilgrims.


To  visit MORE friendly skies around the world, fly on over to SKYWATCH  where you’ll find beautiful skies posted by bloggers all over the world.

Our World: Religious Pilgrims

The city of Jeddah is the major gateway to two of the holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. Consequently, millions of religious pilgrims travel into Jeddah each year.

Religious pilgrims are easily identifiable by their garb - unsewn white pieces of cloth wrapped around their lower and upper bodies.  Many male pilgrims also shave their heads when they perform the rituals of the pilgrimage.

Pilgrims can make their way to Mecca by car, bus, or hi-speed rail.

They travel to Saudi Arabia from countries all over the world.  Some have to save all their lives in order to perform Hajj, to complete this pillar of Islam.  Hajj happens once every year at a specific time and the number of the highly valued visas issued by Saudi Arabia is limited.

When the pilgrimage is performed other times of the year besides Hajj, it is called Omra.  Omra does not fulfill the Islamic requirement of performing Hajj.



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Jeddah: Pilgrim on Mobile Phone

A religious pilgrim walks along a street of Jeddah as he talks on his mobile phone.  Each year millions of people travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at the same time for the annual pilgrimage called Hajj.  Because of its close proximity to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Jeddah is the gateway that most religious pilgrims travel through. All able bodied Muslims are required to perform Hajj at least once in their lives.  Many save up money for years in order to perform Hajj. Muslims may also perform the pilgrimage at other times during the year, but if they do, it is not counted as performing Hajj. This is called Omra when it is done at times other than Hajj.

CDP Theme Day: Transitions

The Jeddah airport is called the King Abdulaziz International Airport and has been in operation since 1981.  This photo features a small section of the open-air Hajj Terminal, which was built specifically to handle the millions of religious pilgrims from around the world who travel to Mecca during a short time frame each year.  The structure consists of over 200 tent-like coverings which provide shade and allow for natural ventilation.  The Jeddah airport has no jet bridges.  Passengers must climb a flight of stairs to board the airplanes.  The severe heat and lugging carry-on bags can make climbing the stairs even more difficult.  A new expansion project is currently under construction (expected to be completed in 2018) and it will have jet bridges.  I can hardly wait for this much anticipated improvement.

Today is the first of the month, which means it's theme day for City Daily Photo bloggers.  City Daily Photo is an online community of photo bloggers from around the world, sharing the wonders of their area of the world pictorially with others.  Each month there is a different theme.  This month's theme is "Transitions."

Please visit the City Daily Photo portal to view other participants' entries for today's theme day of "Transitions."

Dress for Religious Pilgrims

All male religious pilgrims making the pilgrimage to Mecca wear the same thing: a simple white outfit made of two plain pieces of cloth with no seams, buttons, or zippers.  One is wrapped around the lower half of the body like a skirt, and the other is draped over the top part of the body as shown above.  The fabric can be anything ranging from cotton sheeting to heavier fabric like a towel.  All men dressing the same makes them all equal, no classes.

Women are not restricted in the clothing that they wear for the religious pilgrimage, but they must be covered properly according to Islamic standards, including the hair.

Our World: Religious Pilgrim

Religious pilgrims are a common sight around Jeddah.  They come to perform religious pilgrimages year round.  Hajj is the one time of the year when literally millions of Muslims come to Saudi Arabia to perform the religious pilgrimage.  There is a very specific time-frame for Hajj every year.  If a Muslim comes to do a pilgrimage at other times of the year, it is called Omra. 

Be sure to visit OUR WORLD TUESDAY, where family-friendly bloggers share a unique glimpse into what life is like all around our ever-amazing planet.

Our World: Goats in a Truck

The Hajj holidays have just concluded - Hajj is the religious pilgrimage which requires Muslims around the world to travel to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they are able.  It is customary to sacrifice an animal such as a goat, sheep, or camel to share with family, friends and the needy at the conclusion of Hajj.

Sorry, I just realized this post should be called "Sheep in a Truck!"  I have a hard time telling the difference sometimes...

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Old Jeddah Building

Jeddah was first settled as a small fishing village on the Red Sea in about 500 BC. As the closest seaport to both Mecca and Medina, two of the holiest cities in Islam, Jeddah also became a center of commerce as well as the gateway for those traveling to Mecca for Hajj, the religious pilgrimage required of all Muslims. Since about 1940 after the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah has experienced a tremendous and continuous growth spurt, from an estimated 1950 population of about 30,000 jumping to approximately 3.5 million in 2011. The oldest part of the city is called Al Balad, where many of the buildings are crumbling and are in a sad state of disrepair. Surprisingly enough, many of these buildings are still inhabited by the very poor, most of them foreign workers from nearby underdeveloped countries. Notice the satellite dishes.

Our World: The Use of "Haji"

When a Muslim man performs the required pilgrimage to Mecca at some point in his lifetime, he is allowed to refer to himself as "Haji," meaning that he has performed the Haj. It is also used as a man's first name as well.  Many businessmen like to use this title of honor before their names on their business establishments. When I Googled the term in preparation for this post, I was quite surprised and disappointed to learn, however, that the term "Haji" is now being used in a derogatory manner by US military personnel as a racial slur referring to Arabs.




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