Hajj an Adventure for Young Americans

An aerial view of two of three huge stone pillars as Muslim pilgrims seen cast stones at it in the symbolic stoning of the devil for the second day in Mina, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006. Some threw with fury, others just tossed their stones quietly cursing evil and temptation as some 3 million Muslims performed a symbolic stoning of the devil Sunday in one of the most dramatic _ and dangerous _ rites of the hajj pilgrimage. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (Khalil Hamra - AP)

At the hajj, Muslims seek forgiveness of their sins and meditate on their faith.

But for American Muslim parents, it is also a chance to connect their children with a religious heritage they have only heard about growing up in the U.S. Some of the younger pilgrims _ children of immigrants from the Islamic world _ may have occasionally visited their parents' homelands. Others, whose parents are converts to Islam _ like Muschelewicz _ have less direct connection to the Middle East.

"This is really a learning experience for the young," said Tabassam Qureshi, of Westchester, N.Y. He and other Americans were resting in their tent at Mina, a desert valley outside Mecca where Sunday and Monday's rites take place.

His son Amir slept nearby, recovering from burst blisters on his feet. The elder Qureshi recalled their own adventures over the past few days: spending 16 hours on a bus caught in traffic between the holy cities of Medina and Mecca and sleeping outside on blankets in the dirt outside another holy site, Muzdalifa.

"Today, I put my hand on Amir's shoulder and asked him what he's learned, and he said, 'sabr'" _ Arabic for patience, said Qureshi. "They learn that you have to help each other to get through difficulty. And he'll go back and tell his friends all about it."

In the tent, the young men _ women stay in separate tents _ swapped tales about the past week. They talked about the awe they felt performing the rites, the people they had met _ even about the Indonesian women pilgrims and how forcefully they push through the crowds. "They're small, but if you get in their way, watch out," one laughed.

Muschelewicz recounted how their tour bus was clipped by a Saudi army vehicle as they arrived in Mina two nights earlier. They had to abandon the bus and tried to walk to their tent camp.

"We got out of the bus and it was like a video game. You got this huge mass of people coming at you. This Saudi soldier was like, you can't go this way, and I was all ready to go Keanu Reeves on him, I was ready to break the Matrix," he said.

Not the usual hajj lingo _ but it's a common feeling among the pilgrims, confusion on which way to go amid the massive crowds.

His father, Ken, said he and his wife had been planing the trip for two years, a chance for his son and daughter, Aliya, and mother-in-law to experience the pilgrimage, which he first took in 1995.

"It's been eye-opening for both of them," he said.

Tahar Amrouni, a 21-year-old from Houston, said that "you realize the sheer magnitude of the Muslim world, how different all the Muslim cultures are and what they share."

"I see people here with only the clothes on their back, and I thank God for what I have," Amrouni said

As he spoke, his father came over and proudly handed him the knitted skullcap worn by "hajjis," those who have performed the pilgrimage. Amrouni worked it down over the stubble on his shaved head.

"Does it fit OK?" he asked. "I can't tell, is it on right?"