Mecca’s heat claims pilgrims’ lives as Hajj coincides with scorching summers of Arabia

With searing heat conditions prevalent in Saudi Arabia, more than 900 pilgrims, including 68 Indian nationals, are reported to have perished during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca (HT-June 20). Initially, the figures were pegged at 550, out of which at least 323 victims were from Egypt alone, whereas 60 were from Jordan. More than 2,000 people are being treated by Saudi authorities for heat-strokes. The Hajj is a five- to six-day pilgrimage extending from the 8th day of Dhu-al-Hijja, the final month of the Islamic calendar, to its 13th day (though the pilgrimage could terminate on the 12th day of the month as well).

The Islamic calendar is purely lunar. Having 354 to 355 days, it falls short of the natural year by 10 to 11 days and is incongruous with the seasonal cycle. The dates and months of the Islamic calendar rotate freely throughout the Gregorian year, advancing by 10 to 11 days every time. Thus, whether it is the holy month of Ramadan or sacred occasions like Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, etc, they fall by rotation in every conceivable season. While certain seasons could be congenial to the performance of religious observances like roza (annual fasting) and Hajj, others could be tougher on devotees.

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Saudi Arabia (earlier called Hejaz) largely has a desert climate, except for its south-western portion, which is semi-arid. Mecca is fairly hot in the winters, let alone at the peak of summer, when the temperature goes through the roof. This year, Dhu-al-Hijja fell in the extreme summer, which understandably made the performance of Hajj quite tough. The casualty figures capture the ordeal.

Performance of Hajj, called a duty of humankind to Allah in the Quran (3:97), is the fifth of the five pillars in Islam. It is obligatory for all Muslims to do so at least once in their lifetime. Apart from proper intentions (Niya), good health, a sound mind, and adequate resources have also been emphasised, delineating the hardships of undertaking the pilgrimage. In the lifetime of the Prophet of Arabia, the Muslims were confined to the Arabic peninsula. However, within a mere hundred years, the footprints of Islam spread from Spain in Europe to Sindh in the Indian subcontinent.

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In today’s context, Muslims live in wide climatic zones across the world. Extreme summer is not the best time for a five- to six-day pilgrimage, with a lot of outdoor activities, in Saudi Arabia. However, being one of the obligations of Islam, no Muslim would like to exchange the opportunity for anything else in the world. Every country has a certain quota of pilgrims per year, and if one were to miss out in a certain year, there is a fair chance one might wait even for a lifetime.

The Ka’ba (in Mecca), the focal point of the Hajj with its heavenly black stone, was a pilgrimage site long before the time of the Prophet of Islam, says the Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World (P.530). The itineraries of pilgrimage, as described by Sir William Muir (1894), curiously resemble the Hajj (Life of Mahomet, P.lxxxix).

In fact, the pagans actually referred to their pilgrimage as ‘Hajj’, which was undertaken in the month of Dhu-al-Hijja. Islam appears to have copied both, only replacing paganism with prophetic monotheism and vehemence. Between 624 CE (the Battle of Badr) and 630 CE, Islam’s victory over Mecca was complete, leading to the overthrow of paganism. In Dhu-al-Hajj, coinciding with March 630, the Prophet undertook what is known as the “Farewell Pilgrimage” along with his entourage.

However, here lies the catch. According to Muir, there is reason to suppose that the year was originally lunar in pagan Arabia. This continued until the beginning of the fifth century, when, in imitation of the Jews, it was turned into a luni-solar, by interjecting a month close to every third year. This change was intended to make the season of pilgrimage correspond to autumn, when a supply of food would be easily procurable for the vast multitude.

However, a slight defect in the calculation defeated the purpose of the intercalation. The Arabic calendar fell shorter by one day than the natural year, due to an erroneous estimation. Thus, over a period of two centuries, when the Prophet undertook his “Farewell Pilgrimage”, the timing of the pilgrimage had moved gradually backwards from October to March (Life of Mahomet, P. P.lxxxix).

It was during the “Farewell Pilgrimage” that the Prophet abolished the intercalation (Nasi) altogether. Two verses in Quran’s Surah IX: Al-Tauba or Barāat (36, 37)

The number of months/In the sight of Allah/ Is twelve (in a year)/So ordained by Him/The day He created/The heavens and earth; of them four are sacred: /That is the religion/So wrong not yourselves (IX.36).

Verily the transposing (Of a prohibited month)/Is an addition to Unbelief:/The Unbelivers are led to wrong thereby:/for they make it lawful one year/And forbidden another year/In order to agree with the number/Of months forbidden by Allah/And make such forbidden ones/Lawful. The evil of their course/Seems pleasing to them/But Allah guideth not/Those who reject Faith (IX.37)

(The Holy Quran: Text, Translation and Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, 1938 ed, P.450-451)

A differently worded translation is available here.

Yusuf Ali gives a subtext for why intercalation was abolished. This has more to do with military aspects than with astronomically valid reasons. Yusuf Ali reminds us that there was a long-established custom of observing four months in the Arabic calendar, viz., Zul-qad, Zul Hajj, Muharram, and Rajab, as sacred when warfare was prohibited. If it suited them, they postponed one of those months, so a prohibited month became an ordinary month. While their opponents might hesitate to fight, they have an undue advantage. It also upset the security of the month of pilgrimage.

The first three or four months mentioned by Yusuf Ali are in series, being the 11th, 12th, and 1st months of the Arabic calendar. If the intercalary month is inserted anywhere in this series arbitrarily, it becomes an ordinary month without people outside Mecca coming to know about the change in time. However, in more recent times, Stephen P. Blake (2013) has doubted this theory about whether, in the time of the Prophet, intercalation was still being done arbitrarily.

Blake says there is an opinion divide on the Arabic word Nasi used in the verse. Some eighth- and ninth-century authorities have argued that Nasi referred to the official in-charge of the calendar, while others maintained that it meant the addition of a month. Though most Islamic astronomers agreed with the latter interpretation, it is worth noting that during the first centuries of the present era, Nasi was the spiritual leader of the Jewish community. He was responsible for determining the first day of the month (on the appearance of the new moon) and for deciding when to intercalate an extra month. However, by the fourth century, the years of intercalation had become fixed, and Nasi no longer made these decisions ad hoc (Time in Early Modern Islam, P.7-8)

Whatever the reason for abolishing intercalation, mathematical or military, verses of the Quran gave it definite divine authority and permanent validity. A 354 (or 355) day calendar is permanently estranged from the seasonal cycles. Thus, whereas it is no bright idea to have a large congregation in a desert climate in the extreme summer, where Muslims residing in different climate zones are expected to participate, little could be done about it under the laws of Islam.

Festivals all over the world are generally tuned to the seasons. In India, for example, we see that outdoor festivals are celebrated mostly between the autumn and the spring. This timeframe is congenial for congregations. Observances in summer, though few, have no congregational character. An exception is Dashahara, which interestingly involves ritual bathing in the Ganga. This exercise has a cooling effect on the body and mind. The Hijri calendar does not follow seasonal cycles, while Muslims, just like other humans, respond to temperature like any other normal human being.

The writer is author of the book ‘The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India’ (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.