1 00:00:07,060 --> 00:00:09,276 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. 2 00:00:09,276 --> 00:00:13,109 My name is Sadettin Kirmiziyüz. 3 00:00:13,109 --> 00:00:17,226 I am an assimilated agnostic migrant son, 4 00:00:17,226 --> 00:00:23,675 but my name, Sadettin, means "Joy of Faith". 5 00:00:23,675 --> 00:00:26,559 I was asked to give a short report 6 00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:30,659 on the pilgrimage to Mecca I conducted in 2010 with my father. 7 00:00:30,659 --> 00:00:32,627 I have 18 minutes to do that. 8 00:00:32,627 --> 00:00:35,725 I will try to make it. 9 00:00:35,725 --> 00:00:37,660 I will take you through 10 00:00:37,660 --> 00:00:42,380 the rituals you perform during this pilgrimage. 11 00:00:44,026 --> 00:00:46,322 Where should I point? 12 00:00:49,568 --> 00:00:54,607 You apply for the Hajj with the Hollanda Diyanet Vakfi. 13 00:00:54,607 --> 00:00:58,176 For the Belgians: there's also a Belgica Diyanet Vakfi, 14 00:00:58,302 --> 00:01:01,801 but I'll stick to the Dutch version. 15 00:01:01,801 --> 00:01:05,851 It is a Dutch affiliated department of the Turkish 16 00:01:05,851 --> 00:01:08,669 Presidency of Religious Affairs, 17 00:01:08,669 --> 00:01:12,318 founded in 1923 after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 18 00:01:12,318 --> 00:01:14,669 abrogated the caliphate. 19 00:01:14,669 --> 00:01:18,967 The caliphate was the islamic pope. 20 00:01:18,967 --> 00:01:21,003 You enlist here. 21 00:01:21,003 --> 00:01:23,951 You pay 3,500 euro and you get 22 00:01:23,951 --> 00:01:27,734 your airplane ticket, visum, 4 weeks stay in a hotel 23 00:01:27,734 --> 00:01:31,785 and this 24 00:01:31,785 --> 00:01:33,790 Hajji bag. 25 00:01:34,836 --> 00:01:37,171 This is a survival kit. 26 00:01:37,171 --> 00:01:39,534 It contains all sorts of things: 27 00:01:39,534 --> 00:01:43,935 practical information, pictures, backgrounds, slippers, 28 00:01:43,935 --> 00:01:46,284 scentless soap, towels, 29 00:01:46,284 --> 00:01:49,002 the Ihram -- the white garment you wear 30 00:01:49,002 --> 00:01:50,801 when you are in the sacred state -- 31 00:01:50,801 --> 00:01:53,817 and this prayer book. 32 00:01:53,817 --> 00:01:55,567 You keep it safe. 33 00:01:55,567 --> 00:02:00,465 You get vaccinated against malaria, streptococcus, diphtheria, hepatitis, 34 00:02:00,465 --> 00:02:04,185 meningitis -- hepatitis A, B, anything, polio, 35 00:02:04,185 --> 00:02:06,958 you send your vaccination passport and your passport 36 00:02:06,958 --> 00:02:09,969 to the Presidency of Religious Affairs 37 00:02:09,969 --> 00:02:11,752 and you're done. 38 00:02:11,752 --> 00:02:18,769 May God accept this pilgrimage and make it easy for you. 39 00:02:18,769 --> 00:02:25,601 For muslims, the Hajj is the culmination of their religious life. 40 00:02:25,601 --> 00:02:29,868 To celebrate this, at Schiphol airport, in my case, 41 00:02:29,868 --> 00:02:34,419 thousands of happy family members say goodbye to hundreds of Hajji. 42 00:02:34,419 --> 00:02:35,785 There is a joint prayer 43 00:02:35,785 --> 00:02:38,201 to bless the journey, 44 00:02:38,201 --> 00:02:40,518 and those who stay behind are solemnly promised 45 00:02:40,518 --> 00:02:42,503 that they will be prayed for 46 00:02:42,503 --> 00:02:48,351 at the house of God, Baitullah, the Ka'aba. 47 00:02:48,351 --> 00:02:49,701 I was at Schiphol too, 48 00:02:49,701 --> 00:02:53,387 where happy family members said goodbye to me and hundreds of Hajji. 49 00:02:53,568 --> 00:02:55,668 Next to me stood my girlfriend, 50 00:02:55,668 --> 00:02:57,885 from the Judeo-Christian civilisation. 51 00:02:57,885 --> 00:02:59,351 As we are standing there, 52 00:02:59,351 --> 00:03:02,368 the imam who will accompany us, starts to pray. 53 00:03:02,368 --> 00:03:05,002 I say agnostic, yes I do, 54 00:03:05,002 --> 00:03:08,368 but I understand very well that this is a serious endeavour. 55 00:03:08,368 --> 00:03:11,535 So I raise my hands in prayer 56 00:03:11,535 --> 00:03:16,267 and realise that my girlfriend, with whom I have been cohabiting for 7 years, 57 00:03:16,267 --> 00:03:20,902 has never seen me praying in all those years. 58 00:03:20,902 --> 00:03:24,035 Painful? Maybe. 59 00:03:24,035 --> 00:03:27,461 Even more painful is the fact that the prayer I am supposed to join in, 60 00:03:27,461 --> 00:03:30,217 is unknown to me. 61 00:03:30,217 --> 00:03:33,614 So I playback. (Laughter) 62 00:03:36,768 --> 00:03:40,419 In Istanbul we enter the state of Ihram. 63 00:03:40,419 --> 00:03:41,751 The garment is called Ihram. 64 00:03:41,751 --> 00:03:44,518 The sacred state has the same name. 65 00:03:44,518 --> 00:03:49,568 This is a Hajji looking very much like me. 66 00:03:49,568 --> 00:03:51,618 My father helped me into this. 67 00:03:51,618 --> 00:03:53,800 There is no other way to put on the garment. 68 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:55,951 You can't do it alone, you help each other. 69 00:03:55,951 --> 00:03:57,951 The belt I wear around my waist 70 00:03:57,951 --> 00:04:00,052 needed an extra hole, 71 00:04:00,052 --> 00:04:01,818 because according to my father 72 00:04:01,818 --> 00:04:04,101 I am thin because I smoke. 73 00:04:04,101 --> 00:04:08,319 So I had to pray in Mecca for Allah to help me quit smoking. 74 00:04:08,319 --> 00:04:09,767 To which I responded, 75 00:04:09,767 --> 00:04:12,748 "Oh, yes? Do you think Allah will help me quit? Really?" 76 00:04:12,836 --> 00:04:18,096 He said blandly, "Of course. If you ask him, he helps you." 77 00:04:18,096 --> 00:04:21,168 You tuck one cloth around your waist and one over your shoulder. 78 00:04:21,168 --> 00:04:26,119 As of that moment, the restrictions of the sacred state apply. 79 00:04:26,119 --> 00:04:27,469 The restrictions are: 80 00:04:27,469 --> 00:04:31,735 no nail cuts, no haircuts, no shaving, no scratching wounds, 81 00:04:31,735 --> 00:04:35,419 no use of scents, no swearing, no complaining, no fighting, 82 00:04:35,419 --> 00:04:40,469 no underwear, no killing living beings and no sex. 83 00:04:40,469 --> 00:04:43,218 That means no talking of sex, 84 00:04:43,218 --> 00:04:45,617 no thinking of sex, (Laughter) 85 00:04:45,617 --> 00:04:48,146 for four weeks. (Laughter) 86 00:04:48,146 --> 00:04:50,717 Infringements of these restrictions require atonement, 87 00:04:50,717 --> 00:04:52,468 spiritually and materially. 88 00:04:52,468 --> 00:04:56,234 Think "small gift to the poor". 89 00:04:56,234 --> 00:04:59,035 In the plane from Istanbul to Jedda -- 90 00:04:59,035 --> 00:05:04,152 I can't show you here, but Jedda is on the West Coast, 91 00:05:04,152 --> 00:05:06,735 it says "Jiddah", near the Red See -- 92 00:05:06,735 --> 00:05:09,768 in that plane there is another joint prayer. 93 00:05:09,768 --> 00:05:12,967 You use your folding table to rest your forehead 94 00:05:12,967 --> 00:05:16,201 and as of that moment the Talbiyah can be intoned, 95 00:05:16,201 --> 00:05:18,135 a special pilgrimage prayer. 96 00:05:18,135 --> 00:05:21,314 Labbayk, Allahumma Labbayk! Labbayka La Shareeka laka labbayk! 97 00:05:21,314 --> 00:05:24,933 Innal Hamda Wanni'mata. Laka Wal Mulka Laa Shareekalak 98 00:05:24,953 --> 00:05:26,502 No Hajji in the room? 99 00:05:26,502 --> 00:05:28,222 Freely translated, it means, 100 00:05:28,222 --> 00:05:30,002 "Here I am, God, here I am, 101 00:05:30,002 --> 00:05:31,868 as I was meant to be here. 102 00:05:31,868 --> 00:05:33,509 Thine is the honor and the glory." 103 00:05:33,509 --> 00:05:36,019 But when one Hajji intones 104 00:05:36,019 --> 00:05:40,280 this Talbiyah, the others are supposed to join in. 105 00:05:40,356 --> 00:05:42,303 So you may happen to be on the bus 106 00:05:42,303 --> 00:05:45,602 from Jedda to Mecca, four and a half hour through the desert, 107 00:05:45,602 --> 00:05:47,819 and you are slowly but soundly falling asleep, 108 00:05:47,819 --> 00:05:50,201 and the Hajji behind you may start, 109 00:05:50,201 --> 00:05:53,303 Labbayka Allhumma labbayk, labbayka la shareeka, 110 00:05:53,303 --> 00:05:54,374 so you join in. 111 00:05:54,374 --> 00:05:58,379 You need to get used to it, but believe me: you get used to anything. 112 00:05:59,302 --> 00:06:01,551 Then we arrive in Mecca. 113 00:06:01,551 --> 00:06:03,752 We go straight to the sacred part of the city. 114 00:06:03,752 --> 00:06:06,586 You will not see Mecca itself during those four weeks. 115 00:06:06,586 --> 00:06:09,101 This is a replica of the Big Ben. 116 00:06:09,101 --> 00:06:11,351 They built it there. 117 00:06:11,351 --> 00:06:15,351 My father pointed out to me that it says "Allah" in Arabic on the Big Ben. 118 00:06:15,351 --> 00:06:17,651 He thought that was very beautiful. 119 00:06:17,651 --> 00:06:20,034 You check into your hotel and as of that moment 120 00:06:20,034 --> 00:06:22,417 you no longer enjoy double citizenship. 121 00:06:22,417 --> 00:06:24,801 You are no longer a Belgian Moroccan or a Dutch Turk, 122 00:06:24,801 --> 00:06:28,051 you are simply a Moroccan or a Turk. That's all. 123 00:06:28,051 --> 00:06:29,669 Go on. 124 00:06:29,669 --> 00:06:33,286 To the Masjid al-Haram, the holy mosque, 125 00:06:33,286 --> 00:06:35,951 because that is where the Ka'aba is. 126 00:06:35,951 --> 00:06:39,485 By the way, Ka'aba just means "cube". 127 00:06:39,485 --> 00:06:43,701 What struck me immediately, was its architecture, 128 00:06:43,701 --> 00:06:45,634 and I don't mean the number of minarets 129 00:06:45,634 --> 00:06:48,868 or domes, or the beauty of the ornaments, 130 00:06:48,868 --> 00:06:52,837 no, it was as if the architect had counted in 131 00:06:52,837 --> 00:06:56,101 the suspense generated by a first look 132 00:06:56,101 --> 00:06:58,069 at the Ka'aba. 133 00:06:58,069 --> 00:07:01,502 Because first you have to walk around those walls. 134 00:07:01,502 --> 00:07:04,451 That is a 500 to 600 meter walk. 135 00:07:04,451 --> 00:07:07,935 But you know it is there, the Ka'aba. You feel it. 136 00:07:07,935 --> 00:07:10,276 Outside, Hajji are praying, in that direction. 137 00:07:10,276 --> 00:07:11,555 You get closer 138 00:07:11,555 --> 00:07:13,658 until you reach Gate 11. 139 00:07:13,658 --> 00:07:16,604 You take off your slippers, put them in a plastic bag, 140 00:07:16,604 --> 00:07:19,310 put the bag in your backpack 141 00:07:19,310 --> 00:07:22,136 and then -- astonishment 142 00:07:22,136 --> 00:07:25,785 because I did not feel the way I thought I would feel. 143 00:07:25,785 --> 00:07:27,984 Not that I didn't feel anything, no mistake. 144 00:07:27,984 --> 00:07:29,568 It was different. 145 00:07:29,568 --> 00:07:31,752 At home, in Amsterdam, 146 00:07:31,752 --> 00:07:33,935 I listened a lot to Oum Kalsoum, 147 00:07:33,935 --> 00:07:36,868 Fairuz, sufi music, Verdi's Requiem, 148 00:07:36,868 --> 00:07:38,503 I put the volume up and thought, 149 00:07:38,503 --> 00:07:41,170 yes, I will feel this, exactly this -- 150 00:07:41,170 --> 00:07:42,936 but I wasn't. 151 00:07:42,936 --> 00:07:45,135 It was not what everybody said I would feel. 152 00:07:45,135 --> 00:07:48,519 My father, on the bus to the Masjid al-Haram, 153 00:07:48,519 --> 00:07:51,051 "The Ka'aba is a magnet and we are pieces of iron." 154 00:07:51,051 --> 00:07:53,985 Or my mother, who couldn't speak of it without tears in her eyes, 155 00:07:53,985 --> 00:07:56,368 or my aunts, who called it indescribable. 156 00:07:56,368 --> 00:08:01,702 But astonishment too -- because I make jokes, I laugh, 157 00:08:01,702 --> 00:08:02,885 I say 'agnostic', 158 00:08:02,885 --> 00:08:05,034 I flirt with atheism, maybe, 159 00:08:05,034 --> 00:08:07,635 but there were times when I was different. 160 00:08:07,635 --> 00:08:10,335 In every house I visited, when I was a child, 161 00:08:10,335 --> 00:08:12,486 every family member had a picture -- 162 00:08:12,486 --> 00:08:16,802 maybe this picture. 163 00:08:16,802 --> 00:08:20,751 I walk around, butterflies in my stomach, 164 00:08:20,751 --> 00:08:23,034 in this white speckled human hurricane, 165 00:08:23,034 --> 00:08:25,284 pumped around this black pulsating heart, 166 00:08:25,284 --> 00:08:28,184 above me the moon and the stars, 167 00:08:28,184 --> 00:08:30,801 Allah on the Big Ben, 168 00:08:30,801 --> 00:08:36,986 and I feel the moon and the stars, God on the Big Ben, 169 00:08:38,001 --> 00:08:40,951 and that black pulsating heart. 170 00:08:40,951 --> 00:08:44,534 Here we perform the first real ritual: 171 00:08:44,534 --> 00:08:46,767 the Tawaaf, the procession. 172 00:08:46,767 --> 00:08:49,542 Like the planets around the Sun, the Moon around the Earth, 173 00:08:49,542 --> 00:08:51,752 so does man revolve around God. 174 00:08:51,752 --> 00:08:54,585 We go round seven times, anti clockwise. 175 00:08:54,585 --> 00:08:58,068 We are reciting prayers from the prayer book, 176 00:08:58,068 --> 00:08:59,868 a prayer for every round, 177 00:08:59,868 --> 00:09:02,268 and after seven rounds we perform a special prayer 178 00:09:02,268 --> 00:09:06,986 to close the Tawaaf. Masha Allah, congratulations, you performed the Tawaaf. 179 00:09:06,986 --> 00:09:10,385 We go straight on. I have 9 minutes left. 180 00:09:10,385 --> 00:09:12,869 We go to the next ritual, the Sa'i. 181 00:09:12,869 --> 00:09:16,201 The Sa'i is a hike between to hilltops, 182 00:09:16,201 --> 00:09:20,254 Seffa and Merveh, currently situated within the Masjid al-Haram resort. 183 00:09:20,254 --> 00:09:23,468 It is a reconstruction. Everything is a reconstruction. 184 00:09:23,468 --> 00:09:25,882 They are enacting a big theatre play. 185 00:09:25,882 --> 00:09:30,224 It is a reconstruction of the story of Ibrahim, Abraham, Ibrahim -- 186 00:09:30,224 --> 00:09:34,218 whom God ordered to send his wife, Hagar, and their son Ismail into the wilderness. 187 00:09:34,218 --> 00:09:37,135 They arrive at this spot, there, in Mecca. 188 00:09:37,135 --> 00:09:39,603 She understands very well that they will not survive, 189 00:09:39,603 --> 00:09:41,568 looks for water, 190 00:09:41,568 --> 00:09:44,118 stands on the hilltop and puts down her baby, 191 00:09:44,118 --> 00:09:46,253 because she lacks the force to carry it, 192 00:09:46,253 --> 00:09:48,968 and walks to the other hilltop. 193 00:09:48,968 --> 00:09:52,051 She arrives at a ravine she needs to bridge 194 00:09:52,051 --> 00:09:53,719 in order to reach the hilltop. 195 00:09:53,719 --> 00:09:55,235 So she climbs down, 196 00:09:55,235 --> 00:09:58,281 and upon arrival at the bottom, she panics: she can't see the baby, 197 00:09:58,351 --> 00:10:01,485 so she runs to the other side, climbs up, 198 00:10:01,485 --> 00:10:04,869 looks, sees baby Ismail, nothing happened, thank God -- 199 00:10:04,869 --> 00:10:07,285 looks around, sees nothing, runs back, 200 00:10:07,285 --> 00:10:10,302 through the ravine again, panic again, running to baby Ismail. 201 00:10:10,302 --> 00:10:12,336 She does this seven times. 202 00:10:12,336 --> 00:10:14,768 After seven times, she is about to give up, 203 00:10:14,768 --> 00:10:17,735 when she finds God hasn't forgotten her. 204 00:10:17,735 --> 00:10:19,968 An angel descends from heaven 205 00:10:19,968 --> 00:10:22,652 and kicks a hole in the ground with the tip of his wing. 206 00:10:22,652 --> 00:10:28,382 From that hole, pop! water, the Zamzam Well. 207 00:10:28,382 --> 00:10:31,101 The part with the ravine 208 00:10:31,101 --> 00:10:35,067 is now indicated with green lights. 209 00:10:35,067 --> 00:10:38,083 When pilgrims pass a green lamp, 210 00:10:38,083 --> 00:10:40,384 they are supposed to run to the next ravine. 211 00:10:40,384 --> 00:10:41,767 It's a reconstruction. 212 00:10:41,767 --> 00:10:44,783 The Zamzam Well still flows. 213 00:10:44,783 --> 00:10:46,584 And what did the Saudi do? Very smart: 214 00:10:46,584 --> 00:10:49,049 they connected the source to an intricate system 215 00:10:49,049 --> 00:10:52,260 of pumps, tubes, and kettles, so that anywhere 216 00:10:52,260 --> 00:10:55,471 in the enormous Masjid al-Haram resort, all day long, 217 00:10:55,471 --> 00:10:58,683 you can drink Zamzam water. Delicious! 218 00:10:58,683 --> 00:11:01,099 We go straight on. 219 00:11:01,099 --> 00:11:06,033 We have ten days left to go to the Masjid al-Haram, as often as possible. 220 00:11:06,033 --> 00:11:06,984 You do it at night. 221 00:11:06,984 --> 00:11:09,284 It's too hot in daytime. It's 40° Celsius. 222 00:11:09,284 --> 00:11:11,268 You rest during the day. We go at night. 223 00:11:11,268 --> 00:11:13,149 We use the special shuttle buses 224 00:11:13,149 --> 00:11:14,717 taking us to the Masjid. 225 00:11:14,717 --> 00:11:16,683 You perform a Tawaaf, 2, 3, 4, 5, 226 00:11:16,683 --> 00:11:19,850 but most of all: you pray as much as possible. 227 00:11:19,850 --> 00:11:21,333 Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. 228 00:11:21,333 --> 00:11:22,866 Not on your knees, Dear Lord Jesus, 229 00:11:22,866 --> 00:11:24,983 no, the Salat, physical exercise. 230 00:11:24,983 --> 00:11:30,248 Because one prayer in the Masjid al-Haram, counts for a thousand. 231 00:11:30,248 --> 00:11:33,517 In the four weeks that I was in Saudi Arabia, 232 00:11:33,517 --> 00:11:38,715 I prayed 247 times, of which 120 times in the Masjid al-Haram. 233 00:11:38,715 --> 00:11:42,349 Times thousand. 234 00:11:42,349 --> 00:11:46,249 Not bad, for an assimilated agnostic migrant son, isn't it? 235 00:11:46,249 --> 00:11:50,815 After ten days we go to the plain of Arafat. 236 00:11:50,815 --> 00:11:52,382 Number four. 237 00:11:52,382 --> 00:11:54,098 We officially become Hajji. 238 00:11:54,098 --> 00:11:56,014 Mohamed gave his last sermon here, 239 00:11:56,014 --> 00:11:58,414 and all pilgrims present in Saudi Arabia 240 00:11:58,414 --> 00:12:00,350 gather on that plain. 241 00:12:00,350 --> 00:12:02,381 5.5 million people. 242 00:12:02,381 --> 00:12:03,899 We spend the night in tents, 243 00:12:03,899 --> 00:12:06,030 men and women separated, 244 00:12:06,030 --> 00:12:09,265 and it's hot, cramped, 245 00:12:09,265 --> 00:12:12,715 and there's an exceptional amount of mosquitoes. 246 00:12:12,715 --> 00:12:15,050 Which you are not allowed to kill. 247 00:12:15,050 --> 00:12:17,815 You are not allowed to complain. 248 00:12:17,815 --> 00:12:20,581 The next day, there's a prayer service lasting 5.5 hours. 249 00:12:20,581 --> 00:12:21,981 God is honoured, praised, 250 00:12:21,981 --> 00:12:23,448 hymns are sung, 251 00:12:23,448 --> 00:12:27,565 and at the end of the prayer, you congratulate each other: 252 00:12:27,565 --> 00:12:30,816 Masha Allah, you became Hajji. 253 00:12:30,816 --> 00:12:32,531 But we are only half way through. 254 00:12:32,531 --> 00:12:35,581 We move to number 5, Mozdalefah. 255 00:12:35,581 --> 00:12:37,264 We collect pebbles 256 00:12:37,264 --> 00:12:39,425 for what I think is the most spectacular part: 257 00:12:39,425 --> 00:12:41,650 the stoning of the devil. 258 00:12:41,650 --> 00:12:45,133 You collect 49 pebbles, each symbolizing a sin. 259 00:12:45,133 --> 00:12:47,499 A bad quality. You will cast them off. 260 00:12:47,499 --> 00:12:49,650 The stones cannot be smaller than a chickpea 261 00:12:49,650 --> 00:12:51,681 nor bigger than a hazelnut. 262 00:12:51,681 --> 00:12:56,782 I had collected 49 pebbles and was ready, at point 5, 263 00:12:56,782 --> 00:12:59,000 to walk with my father to point 6, Mina, 264 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,699 where 3 giant pillars symbolize the devil. 265 00:13:01,699 --> 00:13:03,299 We were waiting for -- 266 00:13:03,299 --> 00:13:05,899 Okay. The Saudi authorities, for some reason, 267 00:13:05,899 --> 00:13:10,150 had decided that all 140,000 Turkish Hajji present at the time, 268 00:13:10,150 --> 00:13:12,832 had to gather in an area that was hedged 269 00:13:12,832 --> 00:13:16,465 with fences, the standard kind 270 00:13:16,465 --> 00:13:19,549 that you see here as well. Heras-fences, I think. 271 00:13:19,549 --> 00:13:22,348 This was -- this is about 4 meter. 272 00:13:22,348 --> 00:13:25,631 Here was a gate that was closed. 273 00:13:25,631 --> 00:13:27,483 We stood in front of that gate. 274 00:13:27,483 --> 00:13:29,482 Along the area there was a road. 275 00:13:29,482 --> 00:13:32,710 On that road there were buses full of pilgrims from other countries. 276 00:13:32,710 --> 00:13:34,998 The road curved to the right, 277 00:13:34,998 --> 00:13:36,448 so we waited to cross the road. 278 00:13:36,448 --> 00:13:41,264 But it took a long time. Longer. And longer. 279 00:13:41,264 --> 00:13:46,381 It was crowded. More crowded. Even more crowded. 280 00:13:46,381 --> 00:13:49,431 A few hours earlier, we had run out of water. 281 00:13:49,431 --> 00:13:51,565 But hey, this is a test. I am zen. 282 00:13:51,565 --> 00:13:52,998 I am calm. I will not be upset. 283 00:13:52,998 --> 00:13:54,348 As I lower my breath, 284 00:13:54,348 --> 00:13:55,632 my father says, 285 00:13:55,632 --> 00:13:58,464 "I really don't feel like doing this, man. 286 00:13:58,464 --> 00:14:00,499 I'm not going to stand here, no way. 287 00:14:00,499 --> 00:14:01,395 This will go wrong." 288 00:14:01,395 --> 00:14:03,483 "Hey, dad, come on! We've come this far. 289 00:14:03,483 --> 00:14:04,863 Let's stone the devil together." 290 00:14:04,863 --> 00:14:06,582 "No, no, no way, no way. 291 00:14:06,582 --> 00:14:08,234 Got your phone?" "Yes, yes." 292 00:14:08,234 --> 00:14:09,649 "I will stand on a quiet spot. 293 00:14:09,649 --> 00:14:12,650 As soon as you cross that gate, call me and we move on. 294 00:14:12,650 --> 00:14:13,565 "Fine, okay." 295 00:14:13,565 --> 00:14:17,232 He leaves the crowd and at that moment someone faints. 296 00:14:17,232 --> 00:14:20,600 A lady. The lady had a tougher time, they were covered. 297 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,699 Someone faints over there, and there, and there. 298 00:14:24,699 --> 00:14:25,849 Someone yells: 299 00:14:25,849 --> 00:14:29,081 for heaven's sake, make room, she is dying. 300 00:14:29,081 --> 00:14:32,365 Which caused the Hajji standing there 301 00:14:32,365 --> 00:14:36,449 to yell that the damned fucking arabs needed to open the fucking gate 302 00:14:36,449 --> 00:14:39,549 because he wanted value for his 3,500 euro. 303 00:14:39,549 --> 00:14:43,332 Hajji, sabr, sabr, what are you doing, think, think! 304 00:14:43,332 --> 00:14:45,248 A Hajji responds 305 00:14:45,248 --> 00:14:47,164 that the son-of-such-and-such-woman needs to shut up 306 00:14:47,164 --> 00:14:49,082 or else he'll smack the teeth out of his mouth. 307 00:14:49,082 --> 00:14:51,415 As of that moment, things get hazy. 308 00:14:51,415 --> 00:14:54,265 I know that suddenly I didn't feel the ground under my feet 309 00:14:54,265 --> 00:14:56,349 and before my mind's eye I saw images 310 00:14:56,349 --> 00:15:01,650 of '97, '98, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 311 00:15:01,650 --> 00:15:04,115 of Hajji with distorted limbs and bloody Ihrams, 312 00:15:04,115 --> 00:15:05,765 and okay, I know I am a skinny guy, 313 00:15:05,765 --> 00:15:08,299 but I have been in a mosh pit at a concert 314 00:15:08,299 --> 00:15:09,599 so I know, mmmm! 315 00:15:09,599 --> 00:15:12,864 I was surrounded by Turkish aunties, this high. 316 00:15:12,864 --> 00:15:14,401 I don't know what happened to them. 317 00:15:14,401 --> 00:15:16,665 I just know that suddenly I was at the other side 318 00:15:16,665 --> 00:15:18,265 with stuff sticking to my legs. 319 00:15:18,265 --> 00:15:20,449 Did I stand on someone? Did I fall? No idea. 320 00:15:20,449 --> 00:15:22,448 I can only walk, so that I get the fuck out ... 321 00:15:22,448 --> 00:15:23,949 I didn't think fuck! Really not! 322 00:15:23,949 --> 00:15:25,681 Run, run, run. I ran like hell. 323 00:15:25,681 --> 00:15:31,798 Because behind me on the road 139,998 Turkish Hajji came up. 324 00:15:31,798 --> 00:15:34,315 So I ran, I took my phone 325 00:15:34,315 --> 00:15:36,648 and I swear, as if the devil had it's way, 326 00:15:36,648 --> 00:15:39,165 battery empty. 327 00:15:39,165 --> 00:15:42,130 I lose everyone, my father, 328 00:15:42,130 --> 00:15:43,414 the other Dutch Hajji, 329 00:15:43,414 --> 00:15:46,131 and I walk alone for hours, 7 kilometer, 330 00:15:46,131 --> 00:15:48,982 lost, along dusty roads, looking for water. 331 00:15:48,982 --> 00:15:51,816 I find a fountain with Zamzam water, finally, 332 00:15:51,816 --> 00:15:53,349 I get there and think, 333 00:15:53,349 --> 00:15:56,866 "I've been having inappropriate thoughts. 334 00:15:56,866 --> 00:15:58,098 I will stone the devil. 335 00:15:58,098 --> 00:16:00,799 I will cast off my bad qualities -- 336 00:16:00,799 --> 00:16:03,515 I have more than I can recount now, but I have little time -- 337 00:16:03,515 --> 00:16:04,983 I think, concentrate, Sadettin, 338 00:16:04,983 --> 00:16:06,816 it is still possible. 339 00:16:06,816 --> 00:16:09,399 I get a poach with the 49 stones. 340 00:16:09,399 --> 00:16:11,832 I empty it in my hand. 341 00:16:11,832 --> 00:16:17,015 From now on, never, really never -- 342 00:16:17,015 --> 00:16:19,931 and then all hell breaks loose around me. 343 00:16:19,931 --> 00:16:22,515 To my left are 3 Iranian Hajji. 344 00:16:22,515 --> 00:16:24,533 Long beards, turban. 345 00:16:24,533 --> 00:16:26,665 I see slippers fly through the air. 346 00:16:26,665 --> 00:16:28,299 A crutch flies by 347 00:16:28,299 --> 00:16:29,875 and luckily, just before that, 348 00:16:29,875 --> 00:16:32,581 I put on my face mask. 349 00:16:32,581 --> 00:16:34,832 Because I start laughing out loud. 350 00:16:34,832 --> 00:16:38,814 I walk on to the hotel. 351 00:16:38,814 --> 00:16:40,681 Before I enter the hotel, 352 00:16:40,681 --> 00:16:42,132 I enter a store. 353 00:16:42,132 --> 00:16:44,233 I buy three mars bars, three snicker bars, 354 00:16:44,233 --> 00:16:48,381 one bottle of Mecca cola, a pack of cigarettes. 355 00:16:48,381 --> 00:16:49,615 I sit in the lobby, 356 00:16:49,615 --> 00:16:51,481 I eat the snickers, the marses, 357 00:16:51,481 --> 00:16:53,122 I swallow the bottle of Mecca cola, 358 00:16:53,132 --> 00:16:56,475 I light a cigarette and someone taps on my shoulder. 359 00:16:56,891 --> 00:17:02,849 And? How did it go, my boy? 360 00:17:02,849 --> 00:17:06,858 Was my father. All quiet and peace. 361 00:17:06,858 --> 00:17:09,569 The stoning of the Devil kicks off the Feast of the Sacrifice. 362 00:17:09,569 --> 00:17:11,464 I say "Sacrifice". Some say "Slaughter". 363 00:17:11,464 --> 00:17:12,798 I prefer 'Feast of the Sacrifice'. 364 00:17:12,798 --> 00:17:15,214 It commemorates this scene: 365 00:17:15,214 --> 00:17:18,233 the story of Abraham who is again put to the test. 366 00:17:18,233 --> 00:17:20,631 God orders him to sacrifice his son. 367 00:17:20,631 --> 00:17:23,965 In the Bible it's Isaac, in the Quran it's Ismail. 368 00:17:23,965 --> 00:17:25,798 Let's say it's Ismail. 369 00:17:25,798 --> 00:17:28,964 But at the moment suprême, this moment, that is, 370 00:17:28,964 --> 00:17:31,115 an angel descends from heaven. 371 00:17:31,115 --> 00:17:33,116 It points out this ram to Abraham, 372 00:17:33,116 --> 00:17:35,132 in the lower right corner, 373 00:17:35,132 --> 00:17:37,449 with its horn entangled in the bush. 374 00:17:37,449 --> 00:17:39,849 The Feast of the Sacrifice, you might say 375 00:17:39,849 --> 00:17:42,015 commemorates the fact that we don't slaughter 376 00:17:42,015 --> 00:17:45,081 our children but our animals unstunned. 377 00:17:45,081 --> 00:17:48,599 I offered a sheep too. 378 00:17:48,599 --> 00:17:51,248 Really. I kept the ticket. 379 00:17:51,248 --> 00:17:54,881 Where is it? Here. Can you see it? 380 00:17:54,881 --> 00:17:57,765 Sharp eyes. It says 410, doesn't it? 381 00:17:57,765 --> 00:18:02,266 Take it. It says 410 rial, doesn't it? 382 00:18:02,266 --> 00:18:05,266 Saudi currency. Divide by 5. 82 euro. 383 00:18:05,266 --> 00:18:08,131 82 euro to buy a sheep, have it slaughtered, 384 00:18:08,131 --> 00:18:10,581 chopped up, fly across the world, 385 00:18:10,581 --> 00:18:12,382 distributed among the poor and needy. 386 00:18:12,382 --> 00:18:15,366 I haven't seen the sheep. 387 00:18:15,366 --> 00:18:18,381 Impossible. 5.5 million people who all want to be there. 388 00:18:18,381 --> 00:18:20,115 Slaughterhouses have limited capacity. 389 00:18:20,115 --> 00:18:21,699 That ticket is proof of the sheep 390 00:18:21,699 --> 00:18:26,914 which is why I want it back. 391 00:18:26,914 --> 00:18:29,448 At the Feast of the Sacrifice you may shave off your hair 392 00:18:29,448 --> 00:18:32,181 as a sign of literal transformation. 393 00:18:32,181 --> 00:18:34,265 You leave part of yourself behind 394 00:18:34,265 --> 00:18:36,600 in this sacred place. 395 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,631 Only the men shave. 396 00:18:38,631 --> 00:18:42,214 5.5 million people, 60% males, 80% of whom go bald. 397 00:18:42,214 --> 00:18:45,015 That means 2.4 million men. 398 00:18:45,015 --> 00:18:47,650 It happens everywhere, this going bald. 399 00:18:47,650 --> 00:18:49,582 As a result the streets of Mecca 400 00:18:49,582 --> 00:18:53,282 are covered in men's hair for three days. 401 00:18:53,282 --> 00:18:55,648 So you need to clean your slippers 402 00:18:55,648 --> 00:18:58,949 before you enter your hotel room. 403 00:18:58,949 --> 00:19:05,328 This is him, Satan. 404 00:19:06,682 --> 00:19:09,915 Not really, it's a symbol. 405 00:19:09,915 --> 00:19:13,181 You throw stones at it, for three days. 406 00:19:13,181 --> 00:19:15,580 Then we pay a last visit to the Masjid al-Haram. 407 00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:17,233 We perform a farewell Tawaaf. 408 00:19:17,233 --> 00:19:19,914 This is the last thing we do in Mecca. 409 00:19:19,914 --> 00:19:23,132 We go on to Medina 410 00:19:23,132 --> 00:19:26,699 to visit the mosque and the grave of the prophet, 411 00:19:26,699 --> 00:19:29,015 the Masjid an-Nabawi, the prophet's mosque, 412 00:19:29,015 --> 00:19:32,264 which is built around Mohammed's grave. 413 00:19:32,264 --> 00:19:33,864 We salute the grave. 414 00:19:33,864 --> 00:19:37,699 Salute. Remember, no praying at the grave, that is not allowed. 415 00:19:37,699 --> 00:19:39,964 It is sherk, idolatry. 416 00:19:39,964 --> 00:19:43,565 No, Muhammad was a simple man, we salute. 417 00:19:43,565 --> 00:19:46,582 Then you buy 7 kilos of dates, 418 00:19:46,582 --> 00:19:49,548 you fill a jerry can with 10 liter of Zamzam water, 419 00:19:49,548 --> 00:19:52,431 you buy an alarm indicating the hours of prayer 420 00:19:52,431 --> 00:19:55,733 and having the call to prayer as an alarm tone. 421 00:19:55,733 --> 00:19:57,249 You buy it for your mother. 422 00:19:57,249 --> 00:20:00,965 You get onto the plane in Medina, stop over at Istanbul. 423 00:20:00,965 --> 00:20:03,465 You land at Schiphol airport. 424 00:20:03,465 --> 00:20:06,715 There are thousands of happy Turks. 425 00:20:06,715 --> 00:20:08,164 There are flowers. 426 00:20:08,164 --> 00:20:10,715 There is applause. Masha Allah. 427 00:20:10,715 --> 00:20:13,764 You performed the Hajj. 428 00:20:13,764 --> 00:20:16,931 (Applause)