nikki-kwan Review of Inside Mecca

Inside Mecca (2003 TV Movie)

The pilgrimages of three Muslims to Mecca on the Hajj.

[9/10 · 8 December 2013]

Watching this movie was originally a class assignment, so I hadn't been expecting to be very interested or inspired. However, as the film concluded, I found myself really appreciating what I'd just watched. I think the greatest value of this film was the way in which it was structured. The film is shown through the perspectives of three different people from vastly different backgrounds, and whose only uniting factor was that they were undertaking the Hajj. They each have their own personal reasons for going, but the ultimate goal of the Hajj - the honoring of the covenant with God, and the declaration of God's glory - is shared by all three travellers. There were two things I thought the film did very excellently through these three characters. The first, was that it showed how the Hajj is a physical and spiritual journey. Each traveller, on top of the physical challenges (walking long distances in the desert heat, etc.), was met with mental/spiritual struggles. For example, both Fidelma and Khalil faced discrimination because of their ethnicity and gender even though everyone is meant to be equal before God. It showed the power of faith when both were able to overcome this discrimination to preserve their state of Ihram to complete their Hajj. There were other signs of inequality. One of my favorite quotes was what the manager at Minah said about customers, accommodations. Even though they are called VIPs, they are not necessarily special. It is only to describe the services they require that they are labeled VIP, deluxe, or premium. The second thing I thought was very interesting, was the message the movie leaves you with. The last quote in the movie is from Fidelma and she says that the people of Mecca should expect to see more and more people with different looks making the Hajj, because the faith is spreading in this globalized world. The way I see it, the documentary itself is a testimony to the growing awareness of world religions, of opportunities to learn and understand.