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< : 1) Travel to Makkah. For about two-thirds of the world's population, this isn't as easy as it sounds. (Any [[X-Day]] pilgrim will know that the incredible effort it takes to actually get to your destination is enough to dissuade all but the most dedicated and hardened travelers from even starting!). One important thing to take into consideration is that Makkah is sacred ground in Islam: there is a standing law that '''the penalty for non-Muslims entering the city of Makkah is death.''' There are signs posted on all roads leading into the city, noting the exact point at which the ground becomes sacred and only Muslims are allowed to enter.(Presumably, in these "enlightened" times, this penalty might be forgiven if someone were to stumble over the city border by accident.)
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> : 1) Travel to Makkah. For about two-thirds of the world's population, this isn't as easy as it sounds. (Any pilgrim will know that the incredible effort it takes to actually get to your destination is enough to dissuade all but the most dedicated and hardened travelers from even starting!). One important thing to take into consideration is that Makkah is sacred ground in Islam: there is a standing law that '''the penalty for non-Muslims entering the city of Makkah is death.''' There are signs posted on all roads leading into the city, noting the exact point at which the ground becomes sacred and only Muslims are allowed to enter.(Presumably, in these "enlightened" times, this penalty might be forgiven if someone were to stumble over the city border by accident.)
"Be Peaceful, Orderly, and Kind. No Crushing." – Web site of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj |
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Islam has its good points and its bad points; these days in America, much of the focus seems to be upon the bad points. But there’s one important part of Islam that I’ve looked into and found to be quite fascinating: The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah (which we usually spell "Mecca") that all Muslims are required to make at least once in their lifetimes. The Hajj is a look into true Arabic culture, one that has changed little since the foundation of Islam 1,400 years ago.
Taken at face value, the Hajj doesn't seem too difficult for a devout Muslim. You are simply required to perform five tasks:
After the Stoning of the Devil is the feast of Eid al-Adha, which is the closest thing to a single holiday in Islam that most outsiders can understand. During Eid, animals are sacrificed by the Hajj pilgrims, and the meat is donated to charity; all around the world, Muslims sacrifice animals on Eid and have a feast of their own. In their attempts to introduce Islam to more mainstream audiences (and not be seen as fanatical terrorists), Muslim spokespersons, apologists, and publicists have been pushing Eid as a legitimate holiday, to the point where the United States Post Office has included Eid on its printing of holiday stamps; while some schools in the US (though not many) have introduced Eid as an official holiday, alongside Christmas and Hanukkah.
Centuries of tradition have added a lot of extra baggage and detail to the Hajj, but those are the five basic steps needed for a Muslim to complete his or her journey. Of course, this has to happen during the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, which is not the same as Ramadan; while pilgrims come to Makkah at all times of the year, this isn't considered a true Hajj unless it takes place during the correct holy days.
The officially-approved form of Islam in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, is hostile to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise to idolatry. As a consequence, under Saudi rule, the city has suffered from considerable destruction of its physical heritage and it has been estimated that since 1985 about 95% of Mecca's historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished. [5]
Because Islam has its share of pseudo-scientific kooks, some legends have grown up around Makkah and the Hajj that are taken for granted, even though they are patently ridiculous. Of course, Allah is all-powerful, so naturally that makes it true! For instance, here's a quote from a news story published in August of 2010 regarding the grand opening of the new Royal Mecca Clock Tower – a giant clock that towers nearly 2,000 feet over the city, which can be seen up to 18 miles away from Makkah:
But like everywhere else, the Internet has come to Makkah. (That's where the picture at the top of this page comes from – it's a screenshot of the wi-fi splash page there.) And apparently, in between their tawafs around the Kaaba, the pilgrims there still like to browse online. Here's an example: The hit counter here at Cast Iron Chaos includes a tracker that tells where people are coming from, as well as which pages they're reading. And I've found entries on it that say this (the following entry is copied directly from the hit counter, unedited):
(Dialup user) Makkah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 0 returning visits Date Time WebPage 24th May 2005 03:14:29 www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?search=Sex www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Sex 24th May 2005 03:14:34 www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Beneath_the_Valley_of_the_Ultra-Vixens www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?search=Sex 24th May 2005 03:14:55 www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?search=Sex www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Sex 24th May 2005 03:14:55 www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Sex www.modemac.com/cliches.html
And here I thought one of the requirements of the Hajj was abstinence?