Going for Hajj? MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THIS

[Abuishaaq.Nadeem]

Salamalaykum all


I'm into my third year now of doing Hajj sacrifices on behalf of pilgrims, and as you are about to read, doing sacrifices during Hajj can be a horrific ordeal.


Last Eidul-Adha (1431/2010), I was waiting my turn to have my 110 goats done. There were two or three group leaders in front of me who had each a long list of pilgrims’ names they were slaughtering on behalf of.


They took so long that my whole day passed watching these guys have almost a thousand goats sacrificed, one after the other. The sun set and as the place had no lighting I had to come back the next day.


This was the sad part. When I got there the next morning I found all those hundreds and hundreds of carcasses rotting in the exact places they had been slaughtered. No one had skinned them or taken care of them. It only takes about 2 hours for an unattended carcass in the outdoor heat to start decaying and bloating up. It is then rendered useless.


They had dug a huge pit and were wheel-barrowing the dead animals into it. Piles and piles of them, they were going to set them alight with petrol later on.


During Hajj, pilgrims are busy; they have obligations to fulfil and are anxious to get their jobs done. Group leaders often take on the responsibility of their group’s sacrifice but they themselves are often torn between many other tasks and commitments. Yet last years guys seemed unmoved by the fact that their animals were not being attended to. They simply got through their lists and left.


On another front, I observed that day that those involved in much of the sacrifice clean up, did not move for any prayer. Thuhr prayer came and went, asr came and went and there they were in the same places we had left them at before Salah. Some were wearing bracelets of protection or charms on their wrists! Although I did advise whoever I could and received a good response from some, these are definitely not the type of people I would like sacrificing my animals.


In the end I refused that any of them sacrificed a single one of my animals, and I did all 110 with my own hand and watched as they were skinned and taken for distribution, there and then.

In conclusion, I would say either do the sacrifice yourself if you know you will be able to take care of the meat afterwards, purchase the government tickets from the official booths or ascertain who is doing your sacrifice for you and make sure it will be done properly.

I myself will be doing it again this year inshallah and am ready to take on anybody’s sacrifice on their behalf. Government tickets this year are priced at 430sr and I will be doing it for 400SR / £70 sterling / $110 US, which includes presiding over the sacrifice myself making sure it gets skinned and taken for distribution.


You are welcome to contact me via email hajj.sacrifices@gmail.com to arrange it or contact me directly on 0505668216 (Inside Saudi) or 00966505668216 (International)

Wassalamualaykum

Nadeem Ahsan-Shah, Jeddah

0505668216

* Payments can also be made to brother Abdulilah Lahmami in Madinah on 0501683972
* There is a discount available for groups of 30+