Q: Your bio says that you are a Muslim and an American of Arab descent. How did your background help you cover the story of Mecca and the hajj?
AM: On one level, being a Muslim was essential to cover this story: A person must be Muslim to enter the holy city of Mecca . But more than that, my Mecca-location team and I were able to relate to the story and our subjects on a very personal level. For us, Islam was more than book learning, which made our jobs that much easier, that much more important to do correctly and that much more fun.
As an American of Arab descent, I found my "pigeon Arabic" came in handy in Arabia .
Q: What is your most powerful memory from your experiences covering the hajj?
AM: Two days after the Day of Arafat, the day of one-on-one reckoning with God, my cameraman, Hossam Abouel Magd, and our Saudi escort from the Ministry of Information, Khaled al Fal, returned to the Plain of Arafat to see if there was anything interesting to videotape there after the masses of people had left. We wondered what this sacred place was like empty.
There really was not much interesting to see as it turned out. But, there was something we all really wanted to do: climb Jabal Rahma, the Mount of Mercy. Jabal Rahma was wall-to-wall people on the Day of Arafat and very difficult to navigate. There were about a dozen people there two days later, mostly people doing the "tourist" thing. So we climbed. It's not a long climb, and there is a stairway cut into one side of the mount.
On top, we laughed and recounted the struggles of getting around in this same spot two days earlier. We remembered the three-hour search for our pilgrims' campsite. We remembered sharing cucumbers under a makeshift tent with some people from Indonesia . We remembered the breathtaking sky at dusk that day.
We realized that we had been climbing our own mountain for the past week together: leaning on one another, counting on one another and lifting each other's spirits when they dwindled due to hunger, thirst, exhaustion or frustration. And, we became friends.
Each of us got a Polaroid photo of our trio atop Jabal Rahma - taken by a guy hawking his services to groups of tourists, just like us. Mine shows three people with giddy smiles. It sits atop my desk, a cherished souvenir of my experiences covering the hajj.
Q: Why do you feel it is important for Westerners to observe and learn about the hajj?
AM: There is something ultimately universal about hajj, something different types of people can relate to. It is a search for the divine and a search for self. It is a quest for absolution and for meaning in life. It is a chance to get a lot off your chest and to replenish the reservoir.
If our viewers sense this universality it may shrink the uncomfortable gap between "us" and "them" that some may feel. A lot of what I aim to do is to implode that gap - not to make "us" into "them," or vice versa, but to know that we are fundamentally very similar.
Also, in a very practical sense, for non-Muslims to see the commitment Muslims on hajj have - doing the right thing and being patient and charitable and humble - may give non-Muslims an alternative paradigm to consider when they return to the headlines that conjoin Islam and "terrorism."
Q: Do you think that this film will help quash biases against Islam and Muslims?
AM: I hope it will be part of a growing effort in this country and abroad to sow understanding and quiet fears. When fears disappear, biases often fade.
Q: Each year, some 2 million people participate in the hajj. Was it difficult to keep track of your subjects in such a vast sea of pilgrims?
AM: Yes. Talk about a needle in a haystack! Each of my team members has stories about losing track of his subject or not finding the pilgrim at the appointed place and time. Covering the hajj can make one really believe in miracles, because, eventually, we always did find the person we were looking for.
Q: It is said that despite the number of pilgrims in attendance, the hajj is a very intimate, spiritual endeavor. Did you ever feel that your crew's presence interfered with the sanctity of the hajj experience for the subjects of the documentary or those pilgrims nearby?
AM: Good question. This was something I had to address in the earliest stage of the game: Are you willing to have a camera in your face when you are exposing your soul to the Almighty? I'm not sure I would have had the courage to tell a producer "yes" under those circumstances. But Ismail Mahbob, Khalil Mandhlazi and Fidelma O'Leary did.
I am ever grateful to them all for letting us into their lives like this. Hossam and I covered Fidelma. Taghi Amirani and Rida Malas covered Khalil, and Yassir Khan and Wagih Fattah covered Ismail. Each of us developed relationships with our subjects and had to be appropriate at all times.
Occasionally other pilgrims nearby expressed annoyance at our presence, but for the most part we elicited mild curiosity or were ignored. People on hajj are terrifically focused on their purpose.
Q: Did you encounter any resistance from Mecca in obtaining access to the hajj? Were any restrictions placed on you and/or your crew?
AM: The Ministry of Information of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was very eager to welcome National Geographic. The company's reputation for balance and fairness served us well repeatedly on location.
However, the ministry still vetted our proposal with excruciating care for a period of several months. But once our project was approved, green lights flashed just about everywhere. Each of my teams were assigned an escort from the Ministry, and these men were more than helpful day after day.
We must have two dozen incidents recorded on videotape of officials - and some pilgrims - demanding to see our credentials and shooing us away from point A or point B. Our escorts had a high success rate in quickly getting us back on track. However, one of my teams was briefly detained in a Mecca police station irrespective of our permits and escort's efforts.
Q: Is there any footage that didn't make it into the final version of the film that you regret having had to cut?
AM: I was sorry we were unable to show Fidelma O'Leary and her Muslim friends volunteering at a soup kitchen in a United Methodist Church in Austin , Texas .
I was also sorry we could not include the way Ismail Mahbob, who loves to play golf, compared the game of golf to the hajj. He said that those who watch golf and don't play may see it as a silly game of people trying to hit a tiny ball with a long stick. Likewise, for people watching the hajj, it must look strange to see people engaged in these curious rituals in this foreign land. Ismail says to appreciate the hajj you must be a player.
Q: Were there any shots that you wish you could have gotten, but didn't?
AM: It would have been glorious to take our cameras right out onto the floor of the great mosque and videotape people circling the Kaaba. Alas, this is not permitted - for safety reasons as much as anything else.
We did the next best thing, something no other filmmakers have done before. We got permission to use the Saudi TV control room on the third floor of the great mosque and train their remote-control cameras directly on our pilgrims as they performed the rites at the Kaaba.
The results are seen in the emotional closing scenes of the film.
Q: What was the most challenging aspect of documenting the hajj?
AM: It was a challenge to clarify some of the connections between Islam, Judaism and Christianity without being preachy or didactic. Indeed, it was challenging to do a film on religion and keep the tone upbeat, dramatic and interesting.
As always in a good film, we focused on the storytelling and I believe we surmounted this challenge.
Q: Were other pilgrims receptive to you and your crew filming during this sacred event?
AM: Yes, mostly. The majority of people were deeply focused on the rituals and obligations of hajj and paid little or no attention to us. Those who were interested were often too interested. They kept asking about the project while we were trying to work. Fortunately we could tell them to watch their local PBS listings in the fall and to watch for the National Geographic magazine spread on Saudi Arabia coming soon. This quenched a lot of questions.
Q: You have covered the hajj on location at least once in the past. How many times have you covered it and when? Have you noticed any changes since covering your first hajj?
AM: I first covered the hajj for PBS Religion and Ethics News Weekly in 1998. This was the brainchild of then-Executive Producer Gerry Solomon. In the U.S. , only ABC News Nightline had previously attempted such an ambitious undertaking. At that time, I profiled an African-American Muslim, Abdul Alim Mubarak of Maplewood , N.J. , who has since become one of my dear friends. I produced a three-part series that totaled 21 minutes on the air.
The biggest differences? (1) I knew what I was getting into. (2) I could navigate my way through the tent city of Mina with greater ease. (3) The days were cooler on my second venture, for NGT&F, in February 2003. In 1998, temperatures soared near 120 degrees. In 2003, heat maxed out in the 90s. (4) This was a far larger effort, with three pilgrims, three teams, home shoots in three continents and a full 56 minutes to give to PBS in the end.
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Contact:
Ellen Stanley
(202) 775-6755
estanley@ngs.org
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