Elderly pilgrims risk life to go to Mecca
Elderly pilgrims risk life to go to Mecca
JAKARTA (JP): Seventy-year-old Salimah says she feels fine and strong enough to go through the arduous rites of the haj pilgrimage in Mecca.
"I have to be strong," she said resolutely.
Salimah, a resident of Tangerang in West Java, might think she is up to the month-long ordeal, but health experts agree she is actually one of the "high-risk" pilgrims.
Roeselar Roelan, a doctor posted at the haj dormitory in Pondok Gede, East Jakarta, named the other high-risk people as those with hypertension, those who are obese or have heart problems.
Roelan said elderly people constitute the majority of the "high-risk" group. The Ministry of Religious Affairs said more than 60 percent of the 195,000 pilgrims this year are over 50 years old.
"They have to be observed carefully by the doctors," Roeselar said. "They may seem to be in good health but in fact they are often too weak to complete the long haj trip," he said.
The government assigned one physician and two nurses to every flight group, which consists of an average of 400 pilgrims.
Prospective pilgrims have to pass a series of health examinations at village health centers, at the health offices of the local administration, and, finally at the haj dormitory.
The government does not prevent elderly people from going on the haj. It does however forbid pregnant women and those with infectious diseases from joining the pilgrimage.
Rites in the haj pilgrimage require a lot of time and energy. It takes at least 30 days to conduct the religious service until it peaks on the Sacrifice Day. This year's haj season, which started on March 23, will climax on April 28.
Sometimes, however, even the most feeble pilgrims can defy physical limitations and successfully go through the grueling rites because they have inner depths of determination that enables them to succeed, Roelan pointed out.
"It's their spiritual preparation that often helps them overcome their physical capabilities," he said. "An old, weak pilgrim could successfully complete the whole pilgrimage because his or her motivation is very strong."
Chairman of the influential Indonesian Council of Ulemas Hasan Basri is a case in point of a Moslem who feels that spiritual preparation could help overcome his physical condition.
In 1992, Hasan Basri, who was then 72, felt he was actually too weak to go on the haj. "But if you think only of Allah, you become stronger," he told The Jakarta Post.
He then completed all the prescribed rites, including the thawaf, or the circling of the Kaaba, the holy shrine in Mecca, seven times, while being jostled by hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims.
Hasan, who has been on the haj more than 10 times and several times on the minor pilgrimage, umrah, agreed that spiritual preparation is very important for prospective pilgrims.
"You have to be healthy spiritually, which means you do everything only for Allah and you rid yourself of any impurity of thoughts," he said. (01)