Hajj Stories–Somebody Pooped

It’s taken me some time to write about Hajj.  Sorry if any of you were waiting.  But I’m having a tough time thinking, talking or reflecting on Hajj because it makes me really sad to know that it’s done and gone.

So to start myself off, I thought I’d pick a funny story, to make myself laugh as I think back to Hajj.

On the 11th of Dhul Hijjah, Saqib and I set out from our tents in Mina to make Tawaf Ifadah and Sa’ee.  It took us almost one hour to walk out of Mina, one hour on a school bus to get to the Haram, one hour to find something to eat and pray dhuhr, and then finally start.  I was exhausted before tawaf had even started!

We were making our laps around on the top floor.  It was midday, the time between dhuhr and asr.  We had chosen the top floor because the first floor was packed “from the windows to the wall.”  There were people all the way from the edge of the Kaabah, out to the edges of the main floor.  We had originally tried to make tawaf on the second floor, because we’d be covered from the midday sun and plus because certain parts of the second floor are air conditioned.  But that was serving to be difficult because of all the pillars inside, bookshelves, wheel chairs, and taped off areas from construction.  With no other choice we went to the third floor.

I like the third floor of the Haram, especially at Fajr.  It’s a pretty peaceful place.  Most of the other floors are jam packed all the time, with a pretty chaotic crowd.  But there’s something about tawaf and prayer in the open air with sun and clouds above you that makes it more… peaceful.  It’s also generally more quiet up on the roof.  Typically the crowd consists of elderly Hajjis that are wheelchairs, so you’ll just hear the softest humm of their wheels, mixed with other people’s feet shuffling past you.  The only time it’s ever “loud” on the 3rd floor is when someone is in a wheelchair behind you and they want you to move out of the way.  They usually hiss at you…like a snake.  And you’re supposed to get the clue, and move to the side.  It’s kinda nice, because it doesn’t distract you too much as you make tawaf and are concentrating on making du’a and dhikr.

So imagine my surprise, while making tawaf on the third floor, I heard a Saudi guard yelling at everyone to “Shway-ya!”  I was focused on making du’a, and I looked up startled.  What was the big deal?  What was going on?  Why was everyone slowly shifting to the left?  Was there a wheelchair coming up behind us with someone really important?

Nope.  I looked around, trying to see what all the fuss was about, and then I saw it.

There, on the white marble floor, that was sparkling in the midday sun lay a giant pile of brown poop.  And a few feet in front of it, another pile of poop.  And yet another few feet in front of that, another pile of poop.  Someone had gone to the bathroom while making tawaf!

My initial reaction was to laugh, hysterically!  Who poohs in the HARAM!  Did the person make wudu?  Had anyone stepped in it?  Who discovered it there?

But then I felt bad, because I realized that it was probably an elderly man who was sick and couldn’t control his bowels.  I imagine he’d have felt pretty embarassed and a little uneasy as he dashed out of the haram to clean up and make wudu again.  Poor old chap.  Hope he’s okay.

Anyway, the Saudi gaurds took real good care of the whole situation.  On our next lap, they had taped off the area.  On the lap after that they were washing it away with some water and soap.   The lap after that they were drying off the area.  And then finally, the next time I came back to the area, they were gone and so was the poop.

The funniest part of all of this was the 2nd time Saqib and I came around past the whole area.  Some people were just seeing the poop for the first time.  We walked past an old uncle and what appeared to be his own son.  They were astonished and curious to see what had happened.  And the father very excitedly told his son, in a thick desi accent, “Look behta!  Somebody pooped!”

Saqib and I over heard them, and even though we already knew what had happened, we just wanted the uncle to say it again.  So we asked him what the whole problem was, and he announced it once more, “Somebody pooped!”