INDONESIA: RETURNING HAJ PILGRIMS ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE REALITY OF DEADLY TSUNAMI AFTER LOSING FAMILY MEMBERS AND HOMES
Record ID:
648615
INDONESIA: RETURNING HAJ PILGRIMS ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE REALITY OF DEADLY TSUNAMI AFTER LOSING FAMILY MEMBERS AND HOMES
- Title: INDONESIA: RETURNING HAJ PILGRIMS ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE REALITY OF DEADLY TSUNAMI AFTER LOSING FAMILY MEMBERS AND HOMES
- Date: 28th January 2005
- Summary: (BN09) BANDA ACEH, ACEH PROVINCE (DECEMBER 28, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF DORMITORY FOR RETURNING HAJ PILGRIMS 0.04 2. SLV. BANDA ACEH RESIDENT, AZIMAN, WALKING THROUGH CROWD CARRYING MOTHER'S LUGGAGE ON HIS HEAD 0.11 3. CLOSE OF LUGGAGE WITH LABELS 0.16 4. CLOSE OF PHOTOGRAPH OF AZIMAN'S MOTHER, 55-YEAR-OLD MARIAMA, ON LUGGAGE TAG 0.22 5. VARIOUS OF AZIMAN PUTTING LUGGAGE INTO CAR 0.36 6. SLV MOTHER, MARIAMA WALKING TOWARDS REFUGEE SHELTER 0.41 7. VARIOUS OF MARIAMA CRYING WITH FORMER NEIGHBOURS 1.02 8. WIDE OF MARIAMA SEATED NEXT TO HUSBAND, 60-YEAR-OLD ABU AZIZ 1.08 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) ABU AZIZ SAYING: "We did not now how things actually were here from there. We did see footage on television, we saw the picture of the surging water. The head of our haj group said everything was gone and we indeed lost our home and our children." 1.31 10. VARIOUS OF AZIZ AND MARIAMA CRYING WHILE LOOKING AT PICTURES OF THEIR DAUGHTERS 1.52 11. WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE 2.00 12. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PRAYING DURING FRIDAY PRAYERS 2.30 13. WIDE OF PEOPLE LEAVING AFTER PRAYERS 2.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 12th February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BANDA ACEH, ACEH PROVINCE, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVACPSL9SJEEFT7O7RY3PAUB01T1
- Story Text: Aceh pilgrims return from Haj to live in refugee
shelters and to news of missing loved ones.
: Hundreds of Acehnese Muslims returned from the
annual Haj pilgrimage on Friday (January 28) to live in
refugee shelters after learning that they had lost
children, parents and homes in last month's deadly tsunami.
Among the 300 returning pilgrims who had left the
province of Aceh on December 18 -- just over a week before
the wave engulfed Banda Aceh -- were 55-year-old Mariama
and her husband Abu Aziz.
Pilgrims cannot cut short their trip once they have
left for Haj because the journey is seen as symbol of
submission and self-sacrifice to God. Therefore, even
though they would have heard about the devastation and
horrific loss of life, they had to stay.
Loud cries and sobs echoed through the refugee shelter
where many of the Aziz family's friends, neighbours and
distant relatives now lived.
"We did not now how things actually were here from
there. We did see footage on television, we saw the picture
of the surging water. The head of our haj group said
everything was gone and we indeed lost our home and our
children," said 60-year-old Aziz, who found out that he had
lost three daughters to the tsunami.
His wife's elderly mother was also killed, while his
three sons survived.
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, is dubbed
the "Verandah of Mecca" because it was where Islam
centuries ago first entered Indonesia, the world's most
populous Muslim nation.
Acehnese are among the most devout Muslims in Indonesia
and Sharia Islamic law governs many of their personal
practices, such as marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Going to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the
Haj is one of the five main pillars of Islam and must be
performed by every able Muslim at least once in their
lifetime.
Like other pilgrims from Indonesia, a resource-rich but
impoverished nation, Acehnese save for years to afford the trip.
On Thursday (January 27) Indonesia said it had buried
101,199 bodies, with nearly 130,000 people are still
missing in Aceh province.
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