Adiba Khan’s fears for her husband’s safety were quelled Wednesday, but only after an overseas call to a relative.
Her husband, Taqi Khan, 45, of Chicago, had gone to Mecca to make the hajj–the pilgrimage that all able-bodied Muslims are obliged to make. He was staying at the Mena tent camp, where a fast-moving fire erupted Tuesday and killed more than 300 people.
She learned from relatives in Saudi Arabia that there was “a rage of fire” behind Khan as he ran from the camp. Taqi Khan had called these relatives to tell them he arrived slightly later than planned and wasn’t yet inside his tent, a delay that may have spared his life.
“If he had been there on time, there is no way he would have gotten out,” said Adiba Khan. “It was a godsend.”
An estimated 2.5 million Muslims are visiting the holiest site in their religion, spending the week performing a series of historical rituals. The holiday culminates with Id-al-Adha, a three-day feast that starts Friday.
Khan was traveling with five other Chicagoans from the Muslim Community Center at 4380 N. Elston Ave. Dozens of Chicagoans and more than 4,000 U.S. residents have traveled to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, birthplace of the prophet Muhammed.
“They’re anxious and hoping and praying their relatives are OK,” said Mohammed Kaiseruddin, an engineer from Chicago.
Dr. Amir Ali, director of the Institute of Islamic Information and Education, said the Muslim community in Chicago has not heard from many of its pilgrims. He said there are limited telephones on the route to Mecca, and long lines for them even on normal days.
And Kaiseruddin said pilgrims might be more focused on the purpose of their journey than calling home.
“Their priority is to concentrate on their devotion,” he said. “This is a once in a lifetime experience.”
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In Chicagoland mosques, people are saying prayers for those who died in the fire. Still, not all Muslims see the deaths in sadness.
Muslims “think dying over there is the best death. People wish for it,” Ali said. “They think they’d be closer to God.
“Once you go, all of your sins are forgiven and you are like a newborn baby. If you die there, you have a clean record and you go right into paradise,” he said.
Alauddin Shabazz, an imam with the Masjid Al-Faatir Mosque on the South Side said, “Everything is in the hands of Allah. We send our condolences . . . and we pray that all their good deeds outweighed their bad deeds and qualified them for paradise.”