A few weeks ago we had a chance to use Saudia again, but this time we took a domestic flight to Jeddah, the commercial hub of Saudi Arabia. As before, this particular flight with Saudia was a rather interesting cultural experience for several reasons.
Firstly, the passengers. Since Jeddah is one of the closest cities to Mecca, there were quite a lot of hajj pilgrims on the flight. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. All Moslems who have the physical and financial means to do so, should visit Mecca once in their lifetime. For the hajj men dress in white unsewn towels. We’ve been told this is so because during the pilgrimage all people are equal. Women dress modestly, but it was interesting to note that not all women were wearing black. Since a lot of the hajj pilgrims are from abroad you see a variety of colors at the airport compared to the ever-popular black elsewhere. We also saw several groups of women wearing bright colored headscarves, such as the mint green in the picture below. Our guess is that these are hajj tour groups and travelers are wearing the same color headscarves so that it would be easier for the guide to take care of them.
Secondly, holy water. There is a well in Mecca called Zamzam, whose water is holy for Moslems. At the airport you can see people carrying canister after canister of Zamzam water. We were told that the water is used for all sorts of purposes, such as bathing sick people with it, blessings babies, drinking etc. At Riyadh airport you frequently see laborers from Pakistan and India taking the water back home with them.
Thirdly, prayer areas. Now this is not something that you get on any airline. At the back of the jumbo jet there was an empty space dedicated for praying. A veteran expat told us that during longer flights men often congregate in the prayer area. Also, upon arrival at Jeddah airport, there was a prayer area right next to the terminal doors. So basically, if you don’t have a chance to visit the prayer area at the back of the plane during the flight, you can make up for possible missed prayers at the terminal already before you’ve collected your luggage.
Firstly, the passengers. Since Jeddah is one of the closest cities to Mecca, there were quite a lot of hajj pilgrims on the flight. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. All Moslems who have the physical and financial means to do so, should visit Mecca once in their lifetime. For the hajj men dress in white unsewn towels. We’ve been told this is so because during the pilgrimage all people are equal. Women dress modestly, but it was interesting to note that not all women were wearing black. Since a lot of the hajj pilgrims are from abroad you see a variety of colors at the airport compared to the ever-popular black elsewhere. We also saw several groups of women wearing bright colored headscarves, such as the mint green in the picture below. Our guess is that these are hajj tour groups and travelers are wearing the same color headscarves so that it would be easier for the guide to take care of them.
Secondly, holy water. There is a well in Mecca called Zamzam, whose water is holy for Moslems. At the airport you can see people carrying canister after canister of Zamzam water. We were told that the water is used for all sorts of purposes, such as bathing sick people with it, blessings babies, drinking etc. At Riyadh airport you frequently see laborers from Pakistan and India taking the water back home with them.
Thirdly, prayer areas. Now this is not something that you get on any airline. At the back of the jumbo jet there was an empty space dedicated for praying. A veteran expat told us that during longer flights men often congregate in the prayer area. Also, upon arrival at Jeddah airport, there was a prayer area right next to the terminal doors. So basically, if you don’t have a chance to visit the prayer area at the back of the plane during the flight, you can make up for possible missed prayers at the terminal already before you’ve collected your luggage.
Mielenkiintoista - jälleen.
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