From Jakarta to Mecca with faith

From Jakarta to Mecca with faith

By Esta Sallvithya Dirgantari

JAKARTA (JP): Many Indonesians take many ways to Rome before
their dream of traveling to Mecca on the haj pilgrimage comes
true.

Some of them have to take an arduous, long and winding road in
the process, while for others leaving for Mecca is just a matter
of time and will.

Damhuri Razak, 59, a native of Pangkal Pinang on Bangka
island, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that he initially
planned to make the pilgrimage three years ago, as soon as he
retired from his job as an employee of the regency
administration.

He said he then received about Rp 3 million (US$315) from the
life insurance fund provided by his office at the end of his
service and would have taken Rp 6 million from his savings to
cover the rest of the haj fee.

"But unfortunately the economic crisis struck and the haj fee
rose to Rp 16 million as the rupiah plunged. This forced me to
postpone my plan," said Damhuri, a father of four.

A happy ending capped the three years of waiting as Damhuri is
now taking his beloved wife to the holy land of Mecca.

"We don't know when we will die, so I decided to perform the
pilgrimage this year while I am still in good health," Damhuri
said.

Damhuri is one of some 202,000 Indonesians who registered for
this year's haj trip. President Abdurrahman Wahid, Governor
Sutiyoso and several noted actresses, including Desy Ratnasari,
Inne Febrianti and Nurul Arifin, will also be part of the big
Indonesian entourage of pilgrims in Mecca.

Another Bangka family comprising Hamida, 35, her husband Amir,
36, and her 54-year-old mother-in-law Fatima will leave for the
holy land, thanks to their white pepper plantation which had a
bumper crop this year.

Hamida said she arranged the pilgrimage on the spur of the
moment after the pepper harvest on the family's plantation.

"I could not say anything but Alhamdulillah (praise be to
God)," she said.

Muslims believe that when Allah "summons" someone to the haj,
he or she will go. Nothing is too difficult for Allah to overcome
so that a Muslim can go to Mecca.

There have been many cases where a man considered it a miracle
that he was able to become a pilgrim despite his modest life.
Idris, 56, who works as a street sweeper for city market company
PD Pasar Jaya office in Tanah Abang, is one of God's surprise
choices for the pilgrimage.

Idris, a native of Serang in Banten, said every year his
office selects several employees approaching retirement age for
the holy trip to Mecca. Only those who pass a series of tests,
comprising religious knowledge and Koran reading proficiency, are
eligible to apply.

"This is a miracle! I cannot describe how grateful I am. I
never dreamed of going on the pilgrimage since I don't have much
money," he said at the Pondok Gede haj dormitory in East Jakarta.

People who join the government-organized pilgrimage stay at
the dormitory prior to departure.

He said he was equally lucky for being able to raise 10
children with his wife.

He waved to a group of 20 people standing outside the hall
where he had underwent an administration check.

"That's all my relatives who came to see me off," he said of
three car loads of people.

Idris said his office had also given him a Rp 650,000
allowance for his trip, but he has already spent the money to buy
the all things he will need for the haj pilgrimage, such as the
ihram (two lengths of seamless cloth to cover a male pilgrim's
body during the rites of haj).

The haj rites are a retracing of the struggles of Prophet
Abraham, "the father of all prophets" as Muslims call him,
thousands of years ago.

In the seventh century, Prophet Muhammad perfected the rites
of haj and introduced them as one of the five tenets of Islam.
The fulfillment of these tenets -- the declaration of belief in
Allah, the shalat or reciting of prayers, fasting, giving alms
and the haj pilgrimage -- differentiates Muslims from non-
believers.

The main haj rites only last five days from the ninth to the
13th of the Islamic month of Dzulhijjah, which this year falls on
March 4 through March 8.

On the 10th of Dzulhijjah, Muslims all over the world
celebrate Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, which is
marked with the slaughtering of livestock.