Filipino pilgrim dies in Mecca

A Filipina Muslim pilgrim died while 2,000 other Filipinos fell ill at the culmination of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) reported yesterday.

OMA chief and Presidential Special Envoy to the Hajj Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan told The STAR, in a long distance call from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the fatality was identified as Nusfa Kofong, 65, of Tipo-Tipo, Basilan.

Kofong died of chronic pulmonary illness, Zamzamin said.

OMA medical teams headed by Dr. Tahik Sulaik are attending to some 2,000 pilgrims who are suffering from various illnesses to ensure they receive the proper medical care, Zamzamin said.

The outbreak of diseases hit as the first batch of 2,000 hajjis and hadjas arrived in the country Friday night from Jeddah aboard a Saudia Airlines flight.

The OMA said the outbreak of disease is a common problem that affects the three million Muslims who make the pilgrimage each year. Other risks for pilgrims include stampedes at the shrines in Mecca and Medina that result in heavy casualties.

This year, at least 14 pilgrims died in stampedes, a much lower figure than the 200 or more who died in such tragedies in 1998.

Ampatuan and top Muslim officials led 3,200 Filipino performing the annual ritual that is one of the pillars of Islam. The other pillars of the Islamic faith are declaration of their faith, payment of religious tax or zakah, alms-giving, fasting during Ramadan and praying five times a day.

Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the round-trip fare to Mecca is obligated by his or her creed to make the pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime.

One of the major rites of the Hajj is the Day of Arafat, during which pilgrims stand at the foot of the Mount of Mercy, from which Mohammed made his farewell sermon, from from just after noon to just after sunset in deep meditation, self-examination and penance.

After making the visit to Mecca, some pilgrims may also go on to worship at the mosque of the Prophet in Medina.

In the Philippines, news of Kofong’s demise was met with a mix of joy and sadness — joy because the death of a pilgrim while making the Hajj meant that pilgrim’s soul will go straight to heaven, and sadness because the pilgrim’s loved ones are bereaved.

Tahir Sinsuat Lidasan Jr., OMA director for external affairs, said the bodies of Muslims who died during the pilgrimage are buried in a special site in the holy city of Mecca.

"Muslim tradition dictates that a person must be buried within 24 hours after his death," Lidasan said.

According to the history of Islam, the Prophet Mohammad was born in 570 BC of the clan of Quraysh, the ruling family of the City of Mecca.

It was in a cave on Mount Hira, on the outskirts of Mecca, that the Angel Gabriel went to Mohammed, then in his 40s, as he sat meditating and gave him what became the first five verses of the Koran.

Mecca was originally the site of the Ka’bah, a shrine of ancient origins. With the decline of southern Arabia, Mecca had become an important center of trade in the 6th century BC with the Sassanians, Byzantines and the Ethiopians.