The Fire Incident in Hajj in the Year (1417 AH) and the Lessons from It.

The Shaykh : My brothers: In the Hajj of this year, the year 1417, a massive fire occurred on the Day of Tarwiyah. Many people were in Mina, many in Makkah, and many at 'Arafah. Many of those in Mina had entered the state of ihram, and many had not. The disaster was great, had it not been that Allah the Exalted granted a reduction in its scale, so that it was confined to what it was confined to. The tents consumed by the fire were estimated at seventy thousand tents. The dead numbered more than three hundred, more than three hundred dead. The injured numbered about two thousand, or slightly more, or slightly less, and the missing were also many. There is no doubt that this is a catastrophe. But it is due to sins and disobedience, as Allah Blessed and Exalted said: . It is obligatory for us to take a lesson and a warning from this. One of the greatest things we must take a warning from is not to treat Hajj as a leisure trip. We do not want anything but to bring ourselves closer to Allah, and for some of us to sit with others joking, laughing, and wasting time, because Hajj is an act of worship, to the extent that Allah the Exalted called it a vow and called it an obligation. He said, Blessed and Exalted is He: . And He said: . So it is a noble act of worship, not a trifle or a leisure trip. Some people treat it as a leisure trip. Some people treat it as a time for begging. Some people treat it as a time for theft and aggression, may Allah protect us from that. People differ. These calamities are, without doubt, due to our sins. It is also without doubt that they were decreed upon us fifty thousand years before the creation of the heavens and the earth. For this reason, it is obligatory for us to take a warning from this calamity, a warning that the hearts take heed of, and to take from it acceptance of the decree and destiny of Allah. And we should say: Praise be to Allah in all circumstances. As for those who were struck by it and died, if they were in the state of ihram, it is hoped that they will be martyrs. They will come out of their graves saying: Here I am, O Allah, here I am. So they will have the status of martyrdom, death in the state of ihram, and coming out of the graves while reciting the talbiyah. And as for those who were not in the state of ihram, we hope that they will also be among the martyrs, because the victim of a fire is a martyr, as came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And there were wonders in this incident, in the fire. Among them: the strong wind that was carrying the flames from one place to another. It would carry pieces of tents from one side to another. Then when they fell on a side, they would burn. The side to which this piece moved. A person I trust told me about a man who saw with his own eyes a pigeon pass by, and the flames hit it, so it fled from the flames with its tail burning. It fell dead. The burning overtook it, and it fell on a tent, and the tent caught fire. Glory be to Allah! This is an indication that Allah Mighty and Majestic tested the servants with this fire. Then the strong, stormy winds on that day, which we saw driving the fire with great force. This indicates that Allah, Glorified and Exalted, willed from His servants—and He has wisdom—that they take a warning from such matters. And what happened in the fire happened. And it happened that some people lost their mothers, some lost their wives, and some lost their children. And some were seen burning while prostrating. Glory be to Allah! Prostrating to Allah Mighty and Majestic. Either he was praying the midday or afternoon prayer. Or when he felt that the fire had reached him, he stood up to pray and loved to die in his prayer. In any case: We ask Allah the Exalted for our brothers who died that He forgive them and record them among the martyrs, and that He heal our brothers who are still alive and make what befell them an expiation for their sins and an elevation of their ranks. And we ask Allah the Exalted to reward everyone who was struck by this calamity, because every believer is struck by this calamity without doubt. So we ask Allah the Exalted to mend the broken hearts of everyone and to pardon us and forgive us, for He is capable of all things.

The questioner : May Allah reward the honorable Shaykh with the best reward and benefit us with his knowledge. Now it is the turn of the questions.