4 September 11, 2016 Cover Story Gulf Millions of Muslims arrive in Mecca for haj Muslim pilgrims prepare for Friday prayers in front of the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on September 9th. The Arab Weekly staff dom, passport officials said, and the pilgrimage, the Ministry of Haj kingdom to help pilgrims. More than 100,000 troops were were sent back to respective coun- is addressing the potential for heat- The Grand Mosque’s security deployed in Mecca and 4,500 Saudi tries due to violations, which in- related health problems with doc- forces completed preparations for Boy Scouts volunteered to assist Jeddah cluded 52 forged passports. tors from the King Abdullah Medical the haj and appear to have incorpo- pilgrims in Mecca and visitors to the Saudi authorities, with an eye to City using state-of-the-art cooling rated a new security plan, according Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. he annual haj officially tragic accidents last year in which vests designed to treat heatstroke to Commander of Task Force for the The fifth pillar of Islam, haj is a began on September 10th, hundreds died, have taken the se- for the first time during thehaj . Security of the Grand Mosque Ma- ritual Muslims should perform at drawing an estimated 2 curity and safety of haj pilgrims to jor-General Mohammed al-Harbi. least once in their lifetime. To per- million Muslims from 180 new heights in terms of planning, The Saudi Ministry of Harbi, at a news conference in form the rite, one must be an adult countries to Mecca to per- safety and the use of the latest tech- Health stationed more Mina, said: “The plan of the Grand Muslim with a sound mind and the Tform the five-day rituals considered nologies to ensure the well-being of Mosque’s security force was built physical ability to perform the ritu- than 26,000 medical one the five main pillars of Islam. the kingdom’s guests. and technical on well-studied scientific bases als. The worshipper must also have Muslim pilgrims have been trav- For the first time the Saudi Min- personnel of the and has the advantage of reports of the financial resources to make elling to Saudi Arabia since early istry of Haj provided pilgrims with previous haj seasons by enhancing the pilgrimage and still provide for August, dividing their time between identification bracelets that carry kingdom to help the positives and avoiding the nega- one’s dependents at home. the holy sites in Mecca and Medina a computer chip with the wearer’s pilgrims. tives in a way worthy of what has Successfully completing haj, usu- in anticipation to what is to many personal information and contact been accorded by the government ally over five days during Dhu al- the most important religious expe- data that includes what delegation Additionally, the Saudi Minis- of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic rience of their lives. the pilgrim belongs to. try of Health stationed more than great care and attention of pilgrims, calendar, is believed by Muslims to Some 216 international pilgrims With temperatures predicted to 26,000 medical and technical per- Umrah performers and visitors of give the worshipper a place in para- were not allowed to enter the king- exceed 37 degrees Celsius during sonnel from different regions of the Mecca’s Holy Mosque.” dise. Hostile rhetoric escalates between Saudi Arabia and Iran The Arab Weekly staff sion, amity and brotherliness. were cut in 1988 but were restored In a September 7th news con- two years later. ference in London, Saudi Foreign The 1990s was a period of relative London Minister Adel al-Jubeir also accused calm between Riyadh and Tehran, Iran of politicising the haj. Jubeir particularly during the presidency ensions between Saudi said the Iranians’ motivation was of Iranian reformist Mohammad Arabia and Iran inten- to achieve political gains and divert Khatami. However, with the 2003 sified with an ugly ex- attention from its internal prob- US invasion of Iraq, the revelation change involving Iranian lems. of Tehran’s nuclear programme and Supreme Leader Ayatol- Egypt’s most influential Islamic the election of hardline president Tlah Ali Khamenei and Saudi Arabia’s body rejected Iranian calls for joint Mahmoud Ah madinejad, relations highest religious authority, Grand management of the haj, suggesting nose-dived. Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh. that such calls would cause “sedi- Khamenei, in a statement Sep- tion” in the Muslim world. The kingdom broke off tember 5th, accused the kingdom “We confirm our vehement rejec- official ties with Iran in last year’s haj stampede and la- tion of calls by some regional pow- in January after its belled Saudi authorities unfit to ers to internationalise the manage- diplomatic missions oversee the annual event, which is ment of the two holy mosques in were attacked by one of the five main pillars of Islam. the sacred [Saudi] lands,” al-Azhar’s mobs. On September 24th, 2015, more Council of Senior Scholars said in a than 2,000 people, including an statement. Tensions escalated in 2011 when estimated 450 Iranians, died in a A Muslim pilgrim prays at Mount Al-Noor — where Muslims “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the United States uncovered an as- stampede in Mina, independent believe Prophet Mohammad received the first words of the Quran the one responsible for organising sassination plot against Jubeir, who sources said. The death count from through Gabriel in the Hera cave — ahead of the annual haj in the haj affairs without any foreign was then the Saudi ambassador to Saudi officials was 769. interference. This bizarre sugges- the United States. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters) Khamenei’s statement, which tion is a new door for sedition, Iran and Saudi Arabia are on op- was seen by many as an attempt to which must be closed,” it said. posite sides of a number of regional politicise the haj, called on Muslim Tehran in June banned its citi- General Abdul Latif al- Zayani, who Tensions between Iran and Saudi conflicts. In the Syrian civil war, countries to “fundamentally recon- zens from taking part in the haj, the denounced the “false and disgrace- Arabia date to the days of the shah Saudi Arabia is backing rebels fight- sider” management of the pilgrim- first time it had done so since the ful charges” against Saudi Arabia. but relations had been compara- ing Syrian President Bashar Assad, age. 1980s. Zayani’s statement said GCC tively cordial. They worsened after who is militarily supported by the Al-Sheikh strongly rebuked The decision by the Islamic Re- countries should consider Iran’s the 1979 Islamic revolution and the Islamic Republic and its Lebanese Khamenei and the Iranian regime, public came after months of negoti- allegations a public incitement “in start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, proxy, Hezbollah. calling them enemies of the Islamic ations between Riyadh and Tehran. a desperate bid to politicise this which saw Saudi Arabia and the In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition is religion. When Iranian authorities officially major annual Islamic convergence United States warily back Iraqi dic- at war with Iranian-backed Houthi In comments carried by the Jed- announced they would not allow that brings together pilgrims from tator Saddam Hussein. rebels in an effort to restore the in- dah-based Arab News, Al-Sheikh Iranians to participate in the annual all over the world during blessed In 1987, tensions escalated dur- ternationally recognised Yemeni said: “We have to understand that Muslim event, they cited a number days on the land of the Two Holy ing the haj when Iranians in Mecca government to power. they are not Muslims. They are the of reasons, from security to an in- Mosques”. staged a political demonstration The kingdom broke off official followers of majus (a reference to ability to obtain visas in Iran. The statement added that Iran’s and clashed with Saudi riot police. ties with Iran in January after its Zoroastrians who worship fire). The recent comments by Khame- hostile campaigns included false More than 400 people died in the diplomatic missions were attacked Their enmity towards Muslims is nei prompted angry reactions from allegations contrary to the values incident and mobs attacked the by mobs following the execution in old and their main enemies are the Gulf officials including Gulf Coop- and principles of the true Islamic missions of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia of a radical Shia cleric followers of Sunnah.” eration Council (GCC) Secretary- religion, which promotes compas- Iraq and France. Diplomatic ties convicted on terrorism charges..