Spent this afternoon with my favorite aunt & uncle. They live in the Witton
district of Birmingham (large city in the English Midlands). This district
is pretty solidly Muslim — Pakistani & some Bangladeshis, plus 2nd & 3rd
generations.
My aunt speaks well of the local Muslims. There is one old fellow she
particularly likes. He disappeared for a few weeks. When she next saw him,
she asked if he’d been back to Pakistan for a visit. No, he said, he’d been
to Mecca to do the haj (= pilgrimage, a duty of every pious Muslim). My
aunt asked him what the experience was like. The old fellow frowned and
shook his head. “There was a lot of trouble.” Trouble? What kind of
trouble? “The young men. They made so much trouble. Spoiled it for the
rest of us…”