Saudi's hajj guides...an ancient family business

The Saudi government might manage the hajj, but the people who make it run for two million or more pilgrims are a handful of old Mecca families who monopolize the muttawif (hajj guide) business.

Organized into six companies, each taking care of pilgrims from a specific part of the world, they make sure the people who have waited a lifetime to perform the hajj get through it.

"We take control of the pilgrim from when he first puts his foot on the soil of Mecca," said Imad Abdullah, waiting for a busload of Indonesians arriving in the Muslim holy city for the annual pilgrimage.

"We organize the shelter, food, transport, the rituals, and try to resolve any problems that come up," said Abdullah, who specializes in pilgrims from Southeast Asia.

Lucrative trade

In what is a lucrative trade, the families deploy their members for the few weeks a year to manage pilgrim groups for all the time they are in Mecca: holding onto their travel documents, organizing visits to important sites, and at the end, shopping trips so they can return home carrying gifts and souvenirs.

It is a grueling job, having to be on call day and night for a few weeks, but thousands of young Meccans, men and women, seek the job and its good salary.

For several days' work they earn from $800 to more than $5,000 each, depending on their experience.

Knowing foreign languages is a particular asset for a muttawif, and some excel in the tongues of the region they handle.

It is an ancient business, helping foreigners unable to speak Arabic to navigate through the lengthy hajj ritual.

Families have long controlled it, but before the 1930s it was not very disciplined.

Then King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, organized the families into six companies, each with rights to handle pilgrims from a specific region.

Old and noble business

Abdullah's family -- in the business for 150 years, is part of one of the companies, and he has been a muttawif for 30 years.

"Our sons will inherit the job," he said.

It is an old and noble business, he said, but nevertheless the families involved do not have a lot of power in Mecca.

He has seen nearly everything, funny and difficult situations, during his long years.

He tells the story of a pilgrim who was mentally unbalanced.

"But under the effect of the intense heat in Mecca and the spirituality of the place, he ended up recovering his senses."

He has also seen a number of pregnant women give birth during the hajj.

"It's magnificent, but it makes the job complicated, because we have to take them to hospital," he said.

The faithful coming from Indonesia give him a hard time about Saudi cuisine, which they do not seem to appreciate.

Our sons will inherit the job

Abdullah, a muttawif