abekmuhambetova Review of Inside Mecca

Inside Mecca (2003 TV Movie)

Hajj and the effets of changes in the modern Muslim society

[10/10 · 8 November 2020]

Inside Mecca, a National Geographic documentary film, provides a detailed overview of Hajj or the annual pilgrimage of Muslims from all around the world to the center of Islam, Mecca. While highlighting the historical background and reasoning behind this extremely important spiritual practice, the film succeeds to emphasize the unique nature of Islam as one of the world's largest religions and changes happening within the Muslim community. More precisely, the film underlines the body of law, which is central to Islam as it can be seen from many verses and passages represented in Qur'an. To begin with, the idea of Hajj is, in fact, one of the five main pillars of Islam, which every faithful Muslim is ought to practice throughout his life. However, as the film progresses, it can be seen that despite pilgrimage to Mecca being considered as one of the mandatory rules, millions of believers strive to the heart of Islam to celebrate their faith and worship the God as Prophet Muhammad did. Nevertheless, there is a set of obligatory rules, which are aimed at guiding Muslims before, during and after their pilgrimage. As it was mentioned in the film, Mecca has been a centre of pilgrimage of Muslims for more than 1400 years. Moreover, as some scholars suggest, it has attracted people of other faiths a well. However, nowadays not only Mecca does not allow arrival of non-Muslims but also controls the number of Muslims coming every year for the quest for salvation. Moreover, one must prove his or her being a faithful Muslim by providing a confirmation from a mosque he or she regularly attends. This rather a newly implemented rule is not typically associated with Prophet Muhammad himself as, for example, practice of women travelling in groups or of mahram, when women receive a permission from their husband or other male relatives to travel, are. Rather this rule is established and managed by the state authority of Saudi Arabia within which borders sacred city happens to be located. Thus, this is the example of intertwined connection between religious authority and local state authority existing in the modern era. This highlights a significant question of authority in Islam, which appeared after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE. According to Fazlur Rahman, however, "Muslims are asked to "obey God, the Messenger, and those who are in authority from among yourselves (duly elected or appointed authority) " (Rahman, 1994, p.44). Therefore, these restrictions and rules implemented by the state of Saudi Arabia are not generally challenged or undermined by Muslim community. Apart from the rules that Muslims are faced with before the annual Hajj, there are several major rules that are depicted in the film. Most of them are centuries years old and are based on the replication of action and practices that were performed by Prophet Abraham, his wife Hagar and later by Prophet Muhammad. Thus, the legitimacy of the rules associated with them are not challenged by people arriving every year to Mecca. However, as the film has shown the modern days' Hajj evidently has some striking differences. Despite the fact that all Muslims are declared to be "brothers" and are expected "to be together as impregnable as a building reinforced with lead" (Rahman, 1994, p.42), the film has clearly highlighted the existing differentiation among Muslims coming from different financial backgrounds, races, and nationalities. As for example, one of the Muslims coming from South Africa stated, racial distinctions are in place even in the heart city of Islam. This was highly reinforced by the implementing of thousands of tents for people coming to Mecca for Hajj by the government of Saudi Arabia due to the fact that people were separated in these tents based on the regions they were coming from. Similar example is seen from the experience of the female Muslim coming from the United States to Mecca as she was constantly asked and tested on her belonging to Islam based on her appearance not only by the authority of Saudi Arabia prior to her arrival but also by fellow Muslims after. Although both of these cases can be explained by the fact that nowadays almost 80% of Muslims are not of the Arabic descend, it is still a relevant example of how Islamic teachings and practice are reflective of Another example of a newly implemented feature of nowadays' Hajj is its controversial service system, which highlights the differences between the poor and rich. As it was shown in the film, nowadays despite the fact that all Muslims coming to worship the God to Mecca are expected to appear before God in the same clothes representing that all of them are equal, in fact, they are still divided based on their financial status. For example, some people were enjoying more benefits and more comfortable stay during Hajj, while others were not. Therefore, this system of service that was implemented and sponsored by the government of Saudi Arabia to help people coming for the quest of salvation to Mecca, in fact, contradicts the very nature of Hajj, in the first place. Moreover, as it was mentioned in the film, despite the fact that charity or zakat is also one of the obligatory practices of every Muslim, and also the fact that Muslims are obligated to "to give priority to needy Muslims over themselves even if they themselves are in need, and "whosoever is saved from the pettiness of his own self, they are the successful ones" (Rahman, 1994, p.42), charity is rarely performed during Hajj nowadays. To conclude, there are some clear features of Hajj nowadays, which in some way contradict to Islam itself and are dictated by the changes in the Muslim community, which the film Inside Mecca succeeded to emphasize.