Single ladies at the Hajj: Saudi Arabia's new policy is a game-changer
https://arab.news/j2rhg
I have traveled half the world for cricket, but Hajj had always eluded me.
My father is 73 years old and has already performed Hajj with my mother, so I didn't want to ask them to undergo the physical or financial strains of this great journey again. As I am still single, my best bet was to go with my brother. We had been discussing it for years but our schedules and financial capacities around the time of Hajj never seemed to match up. And so I’d keep telling myself it wasn’t my time yet, and that I’d go next year.
Back in the 80’s my father, who was in the military, was posted in Saudi Arabia-- but I performed my first Umrah with my parents in 2012. It was a nourishing and enlightening experience as we performed the rituals together.
For the last three years however, I have had a burning, inexplicable desire to perform the Hajj. I’ve travelled the world as a single woman, I’ve captained a national sports team, and despite all that, being unable to perform the compulsory pilgrimage was a tough thing to accept.
Earlier this year, a yearning to perform the Hajj became stronger than ever. This time I started asking my female friends if anyone wanted to go with me, as I banked on the policy that one could perform Hajj without a mahram-- a male blood relative-- in an all-womens’ group. This policy came into effect for Umrah a year or two ago, and I had travel agents looking for any openings for me in any of the groups for women travelling this year.
We were a group of five women-- the fantastic five in our minds. It was far easier for us as all women to coordinate meeting points as we were praying in the same area and using the same gate for entry and exit.
Sana Mir
When our inquiries about Hajj became more serious and some of my friends said yes, I started preparations. They were an exciting few days of planning, but when I sent my passport picture to the travel agent for a visa, he said I couldn’t go as I didn’t have a mahram and was under 45 years of age. It felt as if I was robbed of something most precious. I was devastated, to say the least. I tried not to express my disappointment to my friends-- all of whom were eligible to go-- as they had started preparing for their sacred journey. But inside, my heart was aching.
I spent around ten days in utter grief, and thought I’d have to wait another year in the hopes of matching my brother’s schedule. I just kept thinking that I’d travelled around the world without a mahram for work and leisure, but that I could not travel to Makkah for the one thing my heart desired most. And then, nothing short of a miracle happened: I got news that the Saudi government had revoked the policy of mahrams for women under 45 as well. Now women around the world could join groups of women and perform the Hajj. I was jumping with joy when I heard the news, and the preparations went into full swing.
We began reading in detail about the rituals and their significance in preparation for our departure. We got our ihrams made, arranged our vaccines and other necessities for travel. We were a group of five women-- the fantastic five in our minds. It helped that all five of us had been frequent travellers and would know our way back if we were ever separated. It was far easier for us as all women to coordinate meeting points as we were praying in the same area and using the same gate for entry and exit. A lot of families on the other hand, found it challenging to find each other after prayers.
Rituals performed at Mina and Arafat generally segregate men and women, so the whole experience for us was very smooth as we were already in an all-womens’ group. Personally, I felt we got more time to pray and perform rituals as the coordination was seamless. The best part about the change of policy is specifically for young people, not just women but men as well. It should encourage more young people to perform Hajj alone if need be, as traveling together and arranging the finances for the pilgrimage may be a much bigger task when entire families are involved. For me, the Hajj was my life’s greatest journey, finally brought to life by an intelligent and meaningful policy that will have far reaching consequences for young women.
- Sana Mir is former captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team. In October 2018, she became the first Pakistani women cricketer to rank number 1 in ICC ODI bowler rankings. Twitter @mir_sana05
