Emphasis added:
1. No, you don't do the hajj to "say you were there". You do it because the Qu'ran requires you to make the pilgrimage at least once in your lifetime. It's more analogous to Christian baptism than to spending New Year's Eve in Time Square just to "say you were there".
2. Muslim theology teaches that everything that happens is the will of Allah. So coping mechanism or not, it is to be expected that devout Muslims will consider the massacre to be the will of God.
BBM.
This is entirely true.There is little will among the devout and faithful to hold anyone (and certainly not government officials) "accountable" for making changes that would lead to improved safety for all Hajj pilgrims. Every aspect of a devout muslim's life is about being subordinate to the will of Allah/ God. And
everything that happens has the hand of Allah/ God in it.
It is not for us to question (or "fix"), but
we are to subordinate ourselves to whatever "happens". "Inshallah" neither assigns guilt, nor mandates (or even encourages) any personal or collective responsibility. Hundreds of pilgrims die almost annually at the Hajj. Nothing substantial changes.
If the local grocery is out of apples......the response of the majority is "inshallah".
If a child dies from a preventable illness....."inshallah".
If someone becomes wealthy from their business......."inshallah".
If there is a car accident, and the women and children die because they were loaded into the bed of a pickup truck first before the men were placed on top of them, ..........."inshallah".
If nearly 1000 pilgrims die during the Hajj from the crush of out-of-control crowd behavior....."inshallah". And they are almost considered "lucky" in that culture, since they died performing the Hajj duty of a faithful muslim. Allah called them home. Who are we to criticize when Allah calls the faithful home?
"Inshallah" is all-purpose, covers every possible situation, and absolves everyone of nearly all responsibility. IMO, it is impossible to understand how pervasive this "cultural theme" is unless you have spent some time in the middle east countries. Then you begin to understand "inshallah".
Nothing, IMO, will substantially change in Saudi Arabia because of this human catastrophe. There will be many deaths next year, and in years to come. IMO, they are incapable of making safety changes of their own accord simply because it will save lives and make things safer for all pilgrims-- they will only do so if they feel some aspect of their government is threatened (economically or otherwise) from world sanctions if they do not. The government authorities are only motivated by outside criticism that affects their reputation or $$, IMO. They don't care for the safety of their own people-- they leave those details up to Allah. IMO.
(The opinion of one who has spent time in the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia in particular.)
