Two women, reportedly Nigerian women, became the subject of intense public scrutiny last week, after pictures of them dabbing in Mecca went viral.
But was it warranted?
Mecca is the center of the Islamic world and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. Mecca is so sacred for us Muslims that it is out of bounds to non-Muslims, especially the sacred sites. Applications for travel to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are therefore subjected to certain checks.
Torquato Cardilli
But these checks are not foolproof. Legend has it that back in 2002, Torquato Cardilli, the Italian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was discovered at one of the holy sites in Mecca wearing beduin robes. Mr. Cardilli was always fascinated with the religion and did convert to Islam afterwards but he wasn’t a Muslim at the time of his visit. So, it is possible that these trendy ladies aren’t actually Muslims.
That said, as a result of the vast numbers of visitors (such as those ladies) that come into the city each year, Mecca has become one of, if not, the most diverse cities in the Muslim world. According to The New York Times, Mecca is now “a striking oasis” of free thought and discussion and also of “unlikely liberalism”. However, all this is within limits and considered as relative progress because of the city’s conservative past. Mecca has its own culture distinctly different from Western culture but visitors do come in and bring their cultures along with them, here’s a video of Nigerians dancing to fuji music during pilgrimage.
Like a lot of things Nigerians, and indeed a lot of other nationals do during pilgrimage, this sort of behavior is frowned upon. But whether we want to call it a double standard or not, the fact that dabbing was imported from hip-hop culture specifically, with all its strong negatives, is probably a little too much for even the most liberal-minded people to digest.
At the start of Ramadan, we touched on whether the Gambians were right in banning music and dancing and pointed out that music and dancing remain a fiercely contentious issue in many Muslim communities. I’m not sure when these pictures of the ladies were taken but if they were indeed taken in the holy month of Ramadan, then the backlash they’ve received is even more understandable.
Dabbing is cool and we love to do it every once in a while, but there are some things reserved for the Holy Ground and some things that work better at an Olamide concert. In dabbing, let’s not allow our elbows cross the lines between the two.