Regarding the "God's will" thing, you have to understand that's just a common phrase and a way of making sense of a tragedy. They don't say it in a way that God is a spiteful murderous deity that sometimes strikes death like this. If you ever set foot in the Middle East, the first Arabic term you'll probably learn is "insh'allah" which means "if God wills it". People say it for EVERYTHING.
"Can you send me those TPS Reports first thing in the morning, Ahmed?"
"Yes Mr. JD, Insh'allah!"
At first it can be frustrating that they seemingly leave something that is clearly in their own hands to God, but you soon learn it's not really meant that way. It's more of a respect to God than a leaving everything in God's hands thing.
As for this tragedy, one of my Pakistani employees is there this year. Still haven't heard from him. These people wait their whole lives for a chance to attend. They go, fully knowing that things like this regularly occur. It's part of the risk they are willing to take to uphold their values. But in addition to that, I think it's just a bragging right. These guys love telling everyone they know that they're going to do the Hajj this year.
I kinda liken it to if I had tickets to the Super Bowl. A once-in-a-lifetime event that all my buddies wish they were doing. Yeah, the Super Bowl lacks the inherent danger, but really, if 700 people out of 2,000,000 die, I'll probably be okay! I'd probably still go.
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