Muslim man recalls his pilgrimage to Mecca

The Lakewood man witnessed the stampede that killed 345 pilgrims.
By HAROLD GWIN
Vindicator STAFF writer
LIBERTY -- Majid Dayem and his wife, Asma, planned to make their first Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, together in December.
Their suitcases were packed and they were ready to go, but Asma, who suffered from lung cancer, died Dec. 24, just three days before their departure date.
Dayem, 59, a retired grocery store worker from Lakewood, Ohio, decided to proceed with the trip on his own, joining more than 2.5 million followers fulfilling an important part of the Islamic faith -- the hajj -- an annual pilgrimage to Mecca that all physically fit and financially able Muslims should make at least once in their lives.
"I ask everyone to go to the hajj," he said, adding that he wants to go again.
"I want to do it for my wife," he said. She wanted to die there, he said, noting that Muslims believe there is no better place to die than on that holy ground.
Local celebration
Dayem, who came to the United States from Jerusalem in 1971, was a guest of honor at the greater Youngstown Islamic community's annual Celebration of Sacrifice on Saturday at the Holiday Inn MetroPlex. The celebration marks the end of the hajj.
His participation in the local ceremony was arranged by his daughter, Nebal Ali of Boardman, a member of the Masjid Al-Kheir mosque in Youngstown.
Two Youngstown residents who also were on the hajj, Mahmud and Um Basem Wakhian, were honored as well, although they weren't present. They stopped off in Jordan to visit relatives on their way home.
Deadly stampede
Dayem was present on the last day of the hajj, less than 100 yards away from where 345 pilgrims died in what authorities described as a stampede as they participated in a ritual stoning of the devil.
Someone dropped their glasses or another object and bent over to pick them up, and the crush of people caused others to trip over that person, he said.
Authorities said the chain reaction killed 345 people and injured nearly 300 more.
"I said to God, 'Please help this people,'" Dayem said, recalling his reaction to the accident.
"It almost happened to me," he said, noting that he had dropped his glasses a bit earlier as he neared the Kaaba, the black stone cube that all Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.
He started to bend over to pick up his glasses, but men on either side of him stopped him, warning him not to try to retrieve them and to keep moving.
Making changes
Saudi Arabia made changes in that area in the past to better handle the crowds and has said it is planning others that should help pilgrims complete the stoning ritual more safely.
That site has been deadly in the past. A stampede in 1990 killed more than 1,400 people, and another in 2004 killed nearly 250.
Randa Shabayek of Poland made the pilgrimage with her husband, Dr. Sayed A. El-Azeem, five years ago and described the experience as "unbelievable."
"All of the prophets had been there, and we're following their footsteps. It's just amazing," she said.
gwin@vindy.com