I was always wondering how cleaners clean the place around the Kabah. It is spotless clean most of the time but it is always packed with people so I was really curious. You can’t really close the area as this will make things worse and most likely people will ignore them.
I have to say I have immense respect for the people who work in the mosque. From the cleaners to the male and female guards. Though the female ones can get on your nerves. At the beginning I found them to be arrogant and unpleasant; pushing people around and shouting. However few days into it and I can totally understand why. There are so many people in Mekkah from different cultures, different nationalities with the majority not speaking English or Arabic and doing things that can put themselves and others in dangers. If one person clogs an area then the majority will suffer since you can’t get out of the mosque. We are talking about thousands upon thousands of people crowding into a small place 5 times a day for prayers. It is so packed that there is no male or female line in some places. We all pray aside to each other because there is no space.
So I can say that seriously the job they do is amazing. Managing people to create order and keep them safe. It is definitely not something you can take lightly.
When it comes to cleaning the Kabah outside where there are always people performing Umrah it can be tricky and it is a mission on it’s own. There are a plethora of cleaners with security all cleaning whilst people pretty much ignore them. They are very efficient and they do it very well with minimal disturbance to worshippers.
It is also important to note for those who will be visiting Mekkah that those cleaners come from poor Muslim countries. However many of them do not only work for the money but also because they see it as an honour to be able to work and pray in in the masjid Al Haram. I would definitely recommend and encourage you to keep some money aside and give to those cleaners who work hard under not very pleasant conditions. What might seem nothing to us, is a lot to them.
If you are interested on how it’s done you can have a look at the short video below 🙂