CAIRO - The entire world has followed with great admiration the first stage in Egypt of the post-revolution parliamentary elections. Observers have expressed their astonishment at the ability of thousands of people to stand in orderly lines, which sometimes extended to the length of one or two miles outside the polling stations, without needing much effort to be made by Army soldiers and civil police. Noticeably, this has occurred at a time when the country is suffering from weak and inadequate security measures. Some analysts have stated that this discipline and patience the Egyptians have shown in practising their voting rights, for the first time in more than half a century, is attributable to their great civilisation and their thirst for freedom and democratic rule. My conviction is that this is a reflection of the people's belief in their cause that has united them in such order, without previous agreement, to head for the ballot boxes to exercise their right of choosing their representatives at the Parliament. They perceive this as the first step towards creating democratic rule in their country. It might seem amazing that people with different backgrounds, education and social status have agreed to respect discipline in order to achieve their goal. However, one should not forget that those people all belong to the same Egyptian civilisation and culture and that they have passed through the same difficult times in peace and war, under totalitarian rule or during the difficult times of the revolution. So they still enjoy the same background and motives that enabled them to organise themselves in such a civilised way to take the first step towards rebuilding their country. This discipline has reminded me of an astonishing scene seen several times in Mecca around the Kaaba when the Imam (the sheikh who leads the group prayer) addresses the worshippers. He, ordering them to stand in disciplined lines facing the Kaaba by a single word of "istawoo" the Arabic word that means to stand shoulder to shoulder (facing the Kiblah). So in less than a single minute, hundreds of thousands of people who were performing tawaf (circumambulation) or were sitting on the mosque's floor waiting for the time of prayer would organise themselves in circular lines around the Kaaba to pray. Those worshippers managed to accomplish such a challenging task by being united behind one single target, that is the Kaaba, which Allah chose as the Muslims' Kiblah (direction) in prayer. So if millions of Muslims of different nationalities can achieve this, simply by being unified with great discipline behind a single target, any nation can do the same if they are united in their goal. Many of the Egyptians living in Saudi Arabia have affirmed that this year's Hajj (pilgrimage) was unprecedented in terms of the incredible number of pilgrims. Some estimates have put them at eight million. These numbers represent an additional major hardship to the pilgrims, especially where the people's movements between the different holy shrines were concerned. It is true that the Saudi authorities exerted tremendous efforts to provide more facilities to enable the pilgrims to perform their Hajj in the simplest possible way. However, the new highways and bridges as well as the tents of Menna could not absorb this great number of visitors at the same time. Even the new train the Saudi authorities have extended between the three shrines of Arafa, Muzdalefa and Menna during the Hajj has not helped lessen the movement of traffic on the roads. There is also the problem of the journey from Mecca and Medina, for which visitors use the same highway. Why don't the authorities consider extending a bullet train between the two holy cities to cut the journey to two to three hours instead of lasting nine hours by vehicle. One might argue that it is natural for pilgrims to suffer some hardship while performing this religious duty, reminding the Muslims how their great Prophet Mohamed made this trip on camelback, taking many days to reach his target while been pursued by the infidels of Mecca. The answer is that the tremendous hardship the Prophet faced in having his message conveyed is acknowledged and respected by all Muslims. However, those supervising this holy duty are requested and entrusted by Allah to offer all possible facilities to make it easier for the pilgrims to perform this duty peacefully and safely. Many of them are of old age and might be suffering some health problems and so need special care, especially in the process of transporting such huge masses of people. I personally believe that the rich country of Saudi Arabia would not mind adding such an important transport facility to the immense projects it continues to implement in the service of the Hajj and the holy shrines. The administration, which is able to extend a long water pipeline for more than 450 kilometres to carry the Zamzam well water from Mecca to Medina, can simply create a new railway line to lessen traffic on the highway connecting these two holy cities. The real advantage of this journey is not limited to the spiritual feeling one enjoys while carrying out this religious duty but also in meeting Muslims from different nationalities and colours. They come from every corner of the world to visit Mecca and circumambulate the Kaaba in response to the first call of Prophet Abraham, when he built the Kaaba with his son Ismail and responded to Allah's order to call upon human beings to head towards it for the Hajj. Abraham had asked, in astonishment, how could he bring his voice to the people and make it heard in such a deserted location? But Allah answered him that, if he fulfilled his duty of calling for the Hajj, then He would convey Abraham's voice to every corner of the Earth. "And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to perform Hajj)." (Surat Al Hajj, verse 27).
