Muslim ritual intimidating for an unreligious journalist

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Performing the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage more ancient than Islam itself, is complicated and confusing even for those well-versed in Islam — so it's particularly intimidating for someone who's hardly religious.

As a secular journalist covering this central pillar of Islam, which began Monday, I am determined to go through the rites with an open mind.

A major hurdle is learning what to do. Before leaving my hotel in Jiddah for the holy city of Mecca, I took the first required steps. I bathed and put on the special clothes of a woman performing hajj: a long white head scarf, a long shirt, a pair of loose pants and a white robe to my ankles.

My colleague, AP Television News cameraman Imad Saeid, coached me through the next step: announcing my intention to perform the pilgrimage. I repeated after him the formula proclaiming the start of my journey, "Labeik, Allahuma, labeik" — "I am here at Your service, Lord, I am here."

During the drive Sunday through the desert to Mecca — the birthplace of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, about 50 miles east of Jiddah — the rest of The Associated Press team gave me a crash course on the rituals, starting with the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped stone shrine that pilgrims circle seven times at the start and end of the hajj.

APTN's Mokhtar Shehada, an Egyptian, wondered if he had to make amends for being aggressive the previous day to a pilgrim who pushed him as he was circling the Kaaba. Hajj rules warn against arguing or fighting during the five-day pilgrimage. Shehada stressed that he had already apologized to the pilgrim.

Our guide from the Saudi Information Ministry, Mansour al-Sibiyani, told Shehada he should check with a cleric about whether he should pay for a goat to be slaughtered and given to the poor, a common penance for mistakes during the rites.

In Mecca, we hit crowds: Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims massed around the Grand Mosque housing the Kaaba. Saudi officials said Monday some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world are attending this year's hajj, along with a half-million Saudis.

The mass of humanity is awe-inspiring — and that is part of the point. The hajj is a deeply personal rite for the faithful, a chance to get closer to God, walk in the footsteps of Muhammad and Abraham and receive the forgiveness of sins. But it is also a communal experience, a symbol of the unity of the Islamic world.