Hajj Doctors and Pilgrimage in the Old Days 1960s

Hajj 1960s

I was going through 3 red boxes of old B/W photographs of the Hajj pilgrimage, belonging to my late grandfather, who served as a Hajj doctor/Hajj surgeon. The B/W photos were processed by Photo El Shark, Ahmad Mohamed Bakader, Mecca, Al Riad, Al Kharaj. P.O. Box 404, P.O. Box 309. The photographic paper used was GEVAERT. The boxes have some pencil scribblings of names of places or event. It is quite easy to follow his serial photographs and match them to the hajj rites. The living conditions and transportation back then are a far cry from what we have today (sheer luxury). It is his sheer courage to serve as a Hajj doctor not only once but numerous times, that I feel it is worth that I write and speak about him. In doing so, he had contributed greatly to our Ummah.

My grandfather is Dr Che Lah by his Malay name but at the back of one of his many Hajj photographs, his name was written in Jawi script as "Doktor Abdullah". This means his proper Muslim name was possibly Dr Abdullah and his call name was Dr Che Lah. A common Penang name prefix is Che or Che'. However, he had used his call name for his schooling and work certificates. People also knew him as Dr Che Lah. I have not been able to trace his Malay wedding certificate to see his full Malay name. His Latin name is Augustine on his English wedding certificate of 1931. Augustine is an Indian name used in India. Joonos is the Dutch spelling for Yunus. Joonos is pronounced as Yunus. His family arrived in Malaya from Hyderabad during the British colonial era, when Muslim names were spelled using Dutch spellings. His father and grandfather worked for the British colonial offices in Penang. Malay Muslim names were spelled as the Dutch would spell their names. Dr Che Lah was Indian-Malay by heritage and not Dutch. He was very tall, some say about 6 feet. His first wife was a Ceylon Dutch Burgher. His second wife was a Chinese whom he brought on 5 of his 7 hajj trips as a Hajj doctor.

Dr Che Lah bin Md Joonos Al-Haj, L.M.S. P.J.K.
Head of the Malaysian Medical Mission to Makkah in the 1960s.
Dr Che Lah had performed the Hajj in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968. He was a Hajj doctor (except in 1965) and headed the Medical Mission team to Makkah.

I looked at all the photographs and covers of the 3 boxes to see if I could find a date or get any hint of the date - unfortunately there was no date noted on any of the boxes. However, there was one photo which had my Chinese grandmother and her two children, a son and her adopted Chinese daughter. I tried to gauge the year by the Chinese girl's age - she is a year younger than me. She was born on 30 June 1959 and she was standing as a little girl in the family photograph. I gather that she would be about 4 or 5 years old. That would make it 1959 + 4 = 1963 or 1964. So the photos were of the early 1960s. That's the best I can get for the date. 

Anyway, I read somewhere that when the Hajj steamer sailed from Penang to Jeddah, it did not go straight there. The steamer would make one or more stops at the ports along the way, mainly to replenish food supply and water. One of the transit ports for refueling was Adan (Eden or Aden). Then the steamer continued its journey till it reached Jeddah port. It took 16 days to sail from Penang to Jeddah port. What happened in Jeddah? This is still a big mystery.

Haji Zul Tiger posted in my Facebook an article on Al-Balad. What is Al-Balad? Al-Balad is an acient historic city in Jeddah. It seems that the pilgrims would stay between 1-3 days at Al-Balad in Jeddah before they moved to Makkah or Madinah by overland route. I can't make out from the photos whether it was Al-Balad, Madinah or Makkah. In the photos, the medical team stayed at a brick hotel with several of their packed stuffs still remained tied. They went to market - a buffalo farm, a poultry farm and the general marketplace. They were surrounded by traders who tried to sell them stuff including hagar, the Arab headgear and tasbih or rosary. One picture showed an old car on the beach as they picnicked by the seaside in Jeddah. I gather the medical team had spent some days in Al-Balad in Jeddah before moving on to Makkah and Madinah.

Then they were photographed near some vans. They were probably negotiating a transport to travel from Al-Balad in Jeddah to Makkah or Madinah by road. There should be someone in the medical team who spoke Arabic in order for them to be able to negotiate a price to hire transport to go to Makkah or Madinah.

I counted the number of Malaysians in the photographs to estimate the size of the advanced medical team. There were 2 Hajj doctors (Dr Che Lah and a Dr Who), 3 Hajj nurses (Rabiah served as a pharmacist, the bigger lady's name is unknown, and one other nurse is Nik Zaleha), an elderly medical lab microbiologist and a few others were assistants. Altogether, there were 19 staff in the advanced medical team but not all were photographed at the same time (sometimes there were only 4, 7, 8 or 12 persons). There could be less or more than 19 persons because some of the people in the photographs might not be part of the advanced medical team but accompanied the team. They were probably related to the medical team members and took the opportunity to perform the Hajj together, or they could speak, read and write Arabic, or were ustaz and ustazah. There must be a reason for why they were travelling and performing the Hajj with the medical team.

Malaysian Medical Mission in the early 1960s (1964-1968).
Seated from left are Dr Haji Ahmad (Kedah), Hajj nurse Nik Zaleha, Dr Che Lah bin Md Joonos (Penang), Hajj nurse Hafsah and Dr Inayat Hussain Amir Mohammad (Terengganu).

Malaysian Medical Mission in the early 1960s (1964-1968).
Seated from left are Hajj nurse Nik Zaleha, Dr Che Lah bin Md Joonos, Dr Inayat Hussain Amir Mohammad and Hajj nurse Hafsah.

Men of the Malaysian Medical Mission to Makkah in the early 1960s (1962-1968). Dr Che Lah is seated third from the left. One of the other men is Haji Omar (as marked on one tin on the floor in the laboratory).

Members of the Malaysian Medical Mission visiting a date farm in Makkah. The man at far right is wearing ihram, indicating that the farm could be close to Makkah.

Dr Inayat Hussain Amir Mohammad (from Terengganu), working as a Hajj doctor with the Malaysian Medical Mission in Makkah, 1964-1968.

Dr Inayat Hussain Amir Mohammad (b.1928-d.1975).

Same as above. Photographed in Arafah, 1964-1968.

Nik Zaleha was a Hajj nurse and dispenser (pharmacist).

Hafsah (above) was the older nurse with Nik Zaleha.

Rabiah (left) and Nik Zaleha (right), Malaysian Hajj nurses.
Rabiah had probably just arrived in Makkah with her luggage at her side.

Pak Cik who?
Who was this elderly man?

Who is this man?
This is not Dr Haji Abbas. Is he Haji Omar?
He was also in a 1955 photograph with Dr Abdul Ghani bin Mohamad.

Who is this man? Is he a microbiologist or medical laboratory technician from IMR or Penang? He was the man who manned the microscope in the Malaysian Hospital laboratory in Makkah. What is his name? Is he Haji Omar?

The medical team arrived in Al-Balad, Jeddah on Day 20, after 16 days of sailing. They spent 3 days in Al-Balad and one day travelling. 

They reached Madinah in March 1963 and made a few visitations. They visited Masjid Nabawi in Madinah (Ziarah dalam). They also visited other areas around Madinah (Ziarah luar). 

From the photographs, the interior of Masjid Nabawi was crude. The exterior of Masjid Nabawi was paved, had young trees planted and looked acceptable.

One of the staff of the Malaysian Medical Mission (leftmost) outside Masjid Nabawi in Madinah, with two Saudi officials.

The medical team was photographed at various places as part of their Ziarah luar Madinah. They visited a small fort or masjid, Makam Syuhada Uhud at Mount Uhud, and a few unidentified places or buildings.

After they stayed in Madinah, as the Hajj season approached, the medical team moved to Makkah.

Rugged terrain around Jabal Nur, on the outskirt of Makkah. Jabal Nur is the mountain in the centre, with its peak pointing left. At the top of the peak is Gua Hirah, which faces Makkah.

The ladies in the medical team had adorned black Hajj garments (ihram) which were cloaks with hoods. They looked stylish with their selendang tied neatly but showing a turf of hair above their foreheads.

Malaysian Hajj nurses with heavy dark cloaks, dark shades and scarves. This looks like Ziarah Makkah in winter, i.e., in the colder months of 1964-1968.

The photos showed an old Masjidil Haram. The marble wall tiles were fixed as we have them today. The floor outside Masjidil Haram was not covered with marble floor tiles but was sand or earth and was dusty. There were many structures surrounding the Kaabah which cluttered the space near Kaabah (mataf). There were two staircases (one for each gender) to go down to the zamzam water wells. They are closed and cemented today (2013).

Outside the Saie venue of Masjidil Haram in the 1960s (1964-1968).

In Makkah, the medical team organised and set up the doctors' quarters, the nurses' quarters, male and female assistants' quarters, a kitchenette and a simple clinic. The corridor was narrow and rooms were very small. The doors were also small and near to each other. Patients sat on chairs and waited in the long narrow dingy corridor. The doctor's table was covered in a velvet tablecover and on top was displayed a stethoscope, a BP set and two other equipment. One of the Hajj doctors (junior) attended to an elderly man. One photo showed a nurse (bidan) attending to an elderly female patient. The younger nurse served as a dispenser or pharmacist during the Hajj.

Hajj medicines brought by the Malaysian Medical Mission by ship to Makkah between 1964 and 1968.

The conditions in the ward and clinic were clean. There was no air cooler or air conditioner in sight except for one air cooler at the chief doctor's bedside. Sunshine lit the spaces in the rooms. There were oil lamps and fans on the table and floor. Carpets covered the brick floor. Suitcases were piled up neatly and pushed against the wall. The room conditions were neat.

In Mina, the Malaysian hospital was a brick building perched on the hillside of a rocky mountain. There were tents close together and scattered on the plains below.

Hospital Malaysia with a Malaysian flag flying in Mina in the 1960s (1964-1968).

Reports of conditions and feedback during the Hajj and health outcomes of the Hajj were published by the chief Hajj doctor in the local newspapers upon return to Malaya/Malaysia.