Expressing his condolences for the tragic disaster of Mina in the beginning of his Fiqh course in A’zam Mosque in Qom, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi recited Surah Al-Fatihah for those who were killed in this tragic incident as well as those killed in the incident of crane collapse which occurred in al-Masjid al-Haram and prayed for their souls to rest in peace.
His eminence then said: “God willing, we will continue reciting Surah Al Fatihah for those killed in these two incidents every day for a week, and we ask Allah the Almighty to make the souls of those killed in these incidents companions of the souls of the martyrs of Karbala, to heal the wounded, and to bestow patience on the families of the deceased. We also hope that those who are among the missing persons of this incident would be found quickly”.
Referring to the mismanagement of the Saudis in this tragic incident as the doubtless cause of this incident, he continued: “this incident has definitely occurred due to mismanagement which could, indeed, have been prevented; so the Saudi officials either could not prevent it or they did not want to prevent it”.
Pointing out the poor handling of the situation in this tragic incident as another instance of mismanagement, his eminence stated: “such an incident with such a scope is either totally unprecedented or at least very rare; unfortunately, instead of sympathizing with the bereaved families, appointing a committee to investigate the cause of this catastrophic incident, punishing those responsible for this disaster, compensating for the losses incurred, and adopting effective measures (even if it requires them to seek assistance with the other Muslim countries) to prevent such incidents in the future, the Saudi officials have shamelessly called it to have happened due to “divine will”! It is the ultimate mismanagement to attribute one’s own failures to divine will!”
Criticizing the Saudi officials’ projection, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said: “Is it possible to stop monitoring the roads and cease enforcing the traffic laws and then attribute the sudden increase in the casualties of car accidents to divine will?”
Stating that the Saudis have misunderstood the meaning of “divine will” he added: “Perhaps, worst of all are that assertions of their grand Mufti, who has claimed that some of the pilgrims longed to be killed in Mina so as to be granted very high spiritual ranks by Allah, and so they intentionally d r o pped down to be trampled to death by the crowd! In another assertion he had asked the Saudi officials to announce that the incident has been due to the disorder caused by the pilgrims themselves!”
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, then, noted: “if they had had the wisdom to take the necessary measures and to deal with this disaster appropriately, it would not have turned in to a disaster with such a magnitude; the Saudis’ incapability of managing this incident is both unfortunate and astonishing”.
He further stated: “The strangest thing, though, is that the Al-Khalifah, the ruling family in Bahrain, have congratulated the Saudis for their successful management of the Hajj rituals! Is this anything but stupidity and ignorance?! We really wish that they would come back to their senses and change their attitude”.
Emphasizing the fact that Hajj belongs to the entire Muslim Ummah, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi noted: “One of the adverse effects of this tragic incident is that it constitutes a major blow to the sanctity of Hajj which has, unfortunately, been terribly damaged. Such damages cannot be put right and compensated easily”.
In the end, his eminence said: “we hope that Allah the Almighty will assuage our pain by compensating for this great tragedy, which has left the Muslim world in sorrow, in different ways”.
