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 Tens of thousands of pilgrims perform the evening prayer at Mecca's Grand Mosque on Wednesday.
November 4th, 2011
07:57 AM ET
Will this year's Hajj have an ‘Arab Spring’ effect?By Dan Gilgoff and Dan Merica, CNN (CNN) - The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is the world's largest gathering of Muslims - the biggest annual gathering of humanity, period. So it's no surprise that Middle East experts expect this year's pilgrimage, the first to happen since the Arab Spring began last year, to be different. The pilgrimage, called the Hajj, happens in the same global neighborhood as countries that have been roiled by protests, revolutions and war over the last 11 months. But there's uncertainty about exactly how this Hajj, which officially begins Friday, will be different. Some experts are watching for potential flare-ups in Saudi Arabia, a country governed by an unelected royal family and where freedoms are limited. They note that ordinary Saudis will be rubbing shoulders with Arabs making pilgrimages from countries that have staged anti-government demonstrations and have unseated long-entrenched regimes. "This idea of freedom and dignity is spreading like wildfire, and at a gathering like the Hajj it's conceivable that the electricity coming from these ideas will be picked up," says Akbar Ahmed, the chair of Islamic Studies at American University. "This is what scares the Saudi bureaucracy." "There are thousands of pilgrims who want to topple the established order of the Saudi monarchy," he says. But Ahmed and others say the Hajj's effects on the Arab Spring are just as likely to be much broader, as many pilgrims share notes on uprisings and overthrows before returning home to countries ruled by despots. "This is a venue where you can come into contact with hundreds of thousands of people, so for people who are coming from these newly liberated lands, it is a bit much to ask to say absolutely nothing about it," says Kelly Pemberton, an assistant professor at The George Washington University who studies Islamic reform movements. "Many people are going to see this (Arab Spring) as a sign of God's favor," she says. At the same time, experts on the region note that the Hajj is a solemn religious event that is physically and spiritually demanding and that affords little time for politicking, raising doubts in some scholars' minds about the magnitude of a Hajj effect on the Arab Spring. The Saudis haven't announced special security measures for this year's Hajj. But the event, which draws roughly 2.5 million pilgrims, has long been managed with military precision, and scholars say the government there has been preparing for months for its first Arab Spring-era Hajj. "They'll be on guard for a flashpoint moment or a riot, something that flares up and becomes something," says Ahmed, referring to Saudi security forces. "In Tunisia, one man set himself on fire and three months later the Egyptian president is toppled." There has been political violence during the Hajj in the past, most notably in the 1980s, on the heels of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini's followers attempted to disrupt the pilgrimage throughout the '80s, though their plots were repeatedly quashed by Saudi security forces. In 1987, however, Iranian pilgrims incited a riot that killed more than 400 people, according to globalsecuity.org, a stark illustration of the rift between Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni dominated Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has not seen the kind of protests now roiling countries like Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, but people there lack many basic freedoms. Political participation is limited. The Saudi government has been politically sensitive to its people since the outset of the Arab Spring, spending billions on domestic programs aimed at improving the lot of its citizenry. And scholars say that Saudi Arabia has supported anti-government forces in some Arab countries, including rebels in Libya and protestors in Syria. "I can't image anybody is going to show up in Mecca denouncing the royal family," says Juan Cole, a Middle East specialist at the University of Michigan. "A lot of people going to Hajj will be connected with the (Egypt-based) Muslim Brotherhood, which has longstanding good relations with the Saudis." Some experts speculate that Saudi Arabia, which tightly controls the numbers of pilgrims allowed to attend Hajj from each country, is reducing its quotas from certain politically unstable countries to curb the influence of would-be revolutionaries. The U.S. embassies in Egypt and Tunisia, two countries that have seen their governments overthrown this year, did not immediately reply to requests Thursday for statistics on slots for pilgrims granted by Saudi Arabia. Some scholars say the governments of other Arab countries are likely to be reducing the number of pilgrims allowed to attend Hajj in Saudi Arabia this year. "The leaders of Syria, Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia are somewhat worried about the Hajj providing a forum for people to trade ideas and strategies and coming home to pick up protests and really find the momentum to get things going," says Pemberton of George Washington University. Since late last year, some Muslim religious happenings in the Arab world have become forums for anti-government activity. In Egypt, Friday afternoon prayers - the most significant prayers of the week for Muslims - served as catalysts for the biggest anti-government demonstrations of the revolution. When Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in Egypt, the announcement came on a Friday, hours after Egypt's Muslims had observed afternoon prayers. In Libya, rebels reached a turning point in a six-month old civil during Ramadan of this year, when evening prayers at mosques helped ordinary people organize against Moammar Gadhafi's regime. With Gadhafi dead, more Libyans may get to attend this year's Hajj than in years past. Other post-revolution Arab countries may send a more diverse mix of pilgrims. "The biggest effect is the allocation of Hajj visas," said Asim Khwaja, a Harvard University professor specializing in international development. "Some countries did a lottery, some did rationing, and with the government changes, if countries were doing rationing in the past, you can imagine they were sending friends and officials." "Now there may be a more egalitarian mix," Khwaja says. "This will be a more democratic Hajj for the Arab world." |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13_QBC63UFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoRiYOplcwY&feature=related
what a great muslim this person are show me on non mulsim have done like this ? Evil people hate Islam . Thank you for post.
show me one JEW or Hindu or so called christian can do what this simple Mulsim can do? true Muslim is my Hero.
ALLAH IS GREAT, ALLAH IS LOVE(AL WADUDU), I LOVE ALLAH. I LOVE ISLAM.
EID GREETINGS FROM INDIA
Eid Greeting from New Zealand.
The Hajj is an example of the twisted religion that Islam is. It claims that it is a monotheistic religion, yet the Hajj itself is a pilgrimage to honor a black stone idol. It also is a wonderful example of how intollerant Islam is, just google the road sign leading into Mecca. NO NON-MUSLIMS allowed.
isslumm is a hate filled cult all muslims should be shot and buried face down, with a pork chop in their mouth!!!
Islam is "The fastest growing religion" because you are not allowed to leave it, or convert to another religion. To do so would incur excommunication, beatings, and worse. Islamic nations claim that their whole country is Islamic, though not everyone drinks the koolaide. Islam is the most intolerant, violent perv3rsion of the Jewish-Christian faith.
Thank you mr. Iqbal for your comment I just open the sites you posted very good sites about Islam. God bless you
More Islamic Jihad lies...
I just want to thank you for your response, please check out another good site....www.Islamhouse.com
@Cowflop
shows that how stupid and ignorant you are. evil people like you worship davil.
Folks you like it or not Islam is the fastest growing religeon.
The reason?
Truth always prevails over False!
Proof: check out some of the following names on http://www.youtube.com
Khalid Yaseen-Abdul Raheem Green-Siraj Wahaj--Shuaib Webb--Gary Miller--Yusuf Islam-–Dr.Gerald Dirks–Siraj Wahaj
Bilal Philips-Yvonne Ridley-Yusuf Estes--Yusuf Hamza -Yashua Evans--Jeffrey Lang.
By the way they all study about Islam and become muslim, and you be amazed by Yvonne Ridley's story about how she was a captive in Afghanistan and got released with a simple promise, then only after reading Quran she accepted Islam and now she is spreading Islam, that is the power of Truth!
So have an open mind and open heart to find the truth yourself. I dare you if you really belive in your religeon you got nothing to loose
check some of the following websites like.
http://www.Islamicity.com-–www.911bible.com--www.sultan.org-www.Thedeenshow.com-www.Whyislam.org--www.ISNA.net
http://www.quranexplorer.com
Actually the opposite is true.
Islams' own studies show that Muslims are leaving Islam in droves.
"Islam is the fastest dying religion" – al-Jazeera.
I just poured pig blood all over a koran and lit it on fire. The smoke should reach allah soon. Breath deep allah, breath deep.
Iqbal khan
thank you for comment mate we need people like you so ignorant can understand. some idiots only love to hate Islam.
Just pick up the Qur'an and read it for yourself. It is violent, anti-semetic, intollerant and pure evil.
ALLAH is GREAT,I LOVE ALLAH, I LOVE ISLAM
it should be said that it is wise not to discuss politics and religion.
CHRISTIANITY IS A SATANIC RELIGION THAT IS USING THE NAME OF JESUS TO DECEIVE PEOPLE FROM TRUE WAY OF GOD . ALL CHRISTIAN ARE GOING TO HELL FIRE . JESUS IS NOT A CHRISTIAN IS NOT PRACTICE RELIGION CALLED CHRISTIANITY , JESUS IS A JEWS AND PRACTICE JUDAISM RELIGION . BECAUSE CHRISTIAN HATE GOD THATS WHY THEY REJECT ALMIGHTY GOD AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR. SO HELL FIRE IS AWAITING THEM ACORDING TO JESUS FOR REAL EVIDENCE VISIT http://www.islamreligion.com
JESUS CHRIST IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!! HE IS COMING AND TAKING HIS BRIDE, THE TRUE CHURCH, HOME!!! THANK YOU JESUS! ALL GLORY AND PRAISE AND HONOR FOREVER!!!
You do realize that under Islamic Law you would be executed for blasphemy, by beheading.
well said mate.only evil peole hate muslim and ISLAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lptWol6TG9g
Dear Tonny You can read and Listen Quran in many languages on
http://www.Quranexplorer.com
The hajj will not have any "Arab Spring" effect in Saudi Arabia because the Arab Spring was primarily a revolt against semi-secular authoritarian dictators in order to establish a more religious, sharia state. Saudi Arabia is already one of the most sharia -compliant countries in the world. The Moslems on the hajj are deeply religious, and Saudi Arabia is just the kind of place they wish they had in their home countries.
It should be called "Jihad Spring" because of the fruit of all the successful revolutions. The "winning" force has adopted a much more radical Islamic stance, they are planning their government around Sharia law and the persecution on Non-Muslims has already begun. Things are only going to get worse...
Don't be afraid of the word Sharia, it is the same law of God Al-mighty that was given to Moses and Jesus (Essa) peace be upon them, but the followers of Moses and Jesus did not enforced or enacted them,then it was given again to the last prophet peace be upon him.
Sharia is an arabic word for God's Law simply put "Ten Commandments"! although there were more commandments that followers of Moses droped or changed the one they did'nt like.
AAAAiiiinnnntttt... But thank you for trying. Sharia is a complete perversion of the Judeo-Christian faith. It is abusive, suffocating, and the exact opposite of God's plan of freedom.
The Hajj might be a little different this year but the countries of the Arab Spring have not decided if they want a Islam-based government. They are just saying that they want their current government to leave. They are not saying who they want instead.
Was Paul a Prophet?
Who wrote the Bible?
Who let them write according to, according to, according to, where did God comes in? when the whole Bible keep saying according to somebody XYZ who don't even have any last name or fathers name.
And every few years they have a new or revised "addition"
Get this,there are:
definitely more than one bible. Here's a good list of the different versions of the bible:
American Standard Version(ASV)
Amplified Bible (AMP)
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New Revised Standard Version (NSRV)
English Standard Version (ESV)
King James Version (KJV)
New King James Version (NKJV)
New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)
New American Bible (NAB)
New International Version (NIV)
Today"s New International Version (TNIV)
God’s Word (GW)
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
New Century Version (NCV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
New International Readers Version (NIrV)
Good News Translation (GNT)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
So I ask where is the word of God that Jesus Preached?
On the other hand Jews only remember "10 commendments" and left or changed what they did'nt like.
stop sprouting your rubbish
@Iqbal Khan
Please consider that the authors of the New Testament account of a lot of miracles, which were worked by Jesus or the apostles. Editions or copies of the New Testament were yet widespread in the Roman Empire in the second century after Christ. At this time the inhabitants of Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor (today Turkey) and Greece were still aware of the miracles of Jesus and the apostles. They actually needed no book, which confirmed there knowledge, because their parents and grandparents had told them the story about Jesus and the apostles. However, the New Testament yet existed and its written stories corresponded with the stories, which the Roman had heard from their elder relatives.
Conclusion: No refutation of the New Testament was drafted by a contemporary of Jesus or the apostles. Even some little time after Jesus' Ascension and the death of the apostles nobody dared to write a refutation against the New Testament, because people were still aware of the wonderful events, which had taken place.
By the way, even Muhammad, the enemy of Christ, who lived a long time (6 centuries) after Christ, did not deny the existence of Christ and the apostles. He even confirms in his Koran that Jesus worked a lot of miracles. Muhammad merely made the mistake to place himself above Jesus and the Koran and its doctrines above the Bible.
Your ignorance of the founding of your Islamic religion is showing through. Islam took the Judeo-Christian faith and perverted it, turning it into a cult.
Thank you MR. iQBAL for your information now i will get Quran and read some stupids only love to hate Islam.
round and round and round we go......
STUPID CNN, THE HAJJ IS OVER – TODAY IS EID AND YOU STILL POST THIS??
CNN is the Islamic News Network, look at their "Top" faith stories, all pro-Islam...
Fascinating. In my opinion, the Hajj is why Islam became such a "successful," widespread religion (unlike other cults that have fallen into nothing, like Baal worship, Greek gods, etc). It's like one big thinktank that Muslims from everywhere get to go to. A very heavy exchange of ideas, what Muslims from such-and-such part of the world are doing, how that can apply to Muslim of thus-and-so country, etc. This is how the Golden Age of Islam started in the past... but also how radicalism and violence spread.
Hajj is something worth watching carefully.
All muslims will dress the same, no different between rich and poor, king or servant. The way all human being will face the lord.
Good way to practice no disscriminations
God willing one day I will go to Huj..Ameen
all Americans will be dead after the eruption of Yellowstone volcano
One more time:---------------
Saving Muslims from the hajj and other hyped events is quite easy!!! (developed by yours truly based on the studies of Armstrong, Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, Richardson and Imam Bayhaqi)
The Five Steps To Deprogram 1400 Years of Islamic Myths:
( –The Steps take less than two minutes to finish- simply amazing, two minutes to bring peace and rationality to over one billion lost souls- Priceless!!!)
Are you ready?
Using "The 77 Branches of Islamic "faith" a collection compiled by Imam Bayhaqi as a starting point. In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true "faith" (iman) through related Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings." i.e. a nice summary of the Koran and Islamic beliefs.
The First Five of the 77 Branches:
"1. Belief in Allah"
aka as God, Yahweh, Zeus, Jehovah, Mother Nature, etc. should be added to your self-cleansing neurons.
"2. To believe that everything other than Allah was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah Most High created these things and subsequently they came into existence."
Evolution and the Big Bang or the "Gi-b G-nab" (when the universe starts to recycle) are more plausible and the "akas" for Allah should be included if you continue to be a "crea-tionist".
"3. To believe in the existence of angels."
A major item for neuron cleansing. Angels/de-vils are the mythical creations of ancient civilizations, e.g. Hitt-ites, to explain/define natural events, contacts with their gods, big birds, sudden winds, protectors during the dark nights, etc. No "pretty/ug-ly wingy thingies" ever visited or talked to Mohammed, Jesus, Mary or Joseph or Joe Smith. Today we would classify angels as f–airies and "tin–ker be-lls". Modern de-vils are classified as the de-mons of the de-mented.
"4. To believe that all the heavenly books that were sent to the different prophets are true. However, apart from the Quran, all other books are not valid anymore."
Another major item to delete. There are no books written in the spirit state of Heaven (if there is one) just as there are no angels to write/publish/distribute them. The Koran, OT, NT etc. are simply books written by humans for humans.
Prophets were invented by ancient scribes typically to keep the un-educated masses in line. Today we call them for-tune tellers.
Prophecies are also invali-dated by the natural/God/Allah gifts of Free Will and Future.
"5. To believe that all the prophets are true. However, we are commanded to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
alone."
Mohammed spent thirty days "fasting" (the Ramadan legend) in a hot cave before his first contact with Allah aka God etc. via a "pretty wingy thingy". Common sense demands a neuron deletion of #5. #5 is also the major source of Islamic vi-olence i.e. turning Mohammed's "fast, hunger-driven" hallu-cinations into horrible reality for unbelievers.
Walk these Five Steps and we guarantee a complete recovery from your Islamic ways!!!!
Unfortunately, there are not many Muslim commentators/readers on this blog so the "two-minute" cure is not getting to those who need it. If you have a Muslim friend, send him a copy and help save the world.
Analogous steps are available at your request for deprogramming the myths of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Paganism..
Buddhism is really more of a philosophy or way of life than a religion. How about instead of spewing all this vitriol on a faith blog you sit back and take a serious inventory of your spiritual well being?
this is all bunk in nice words
BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE
Only for the those interested in a religious update:--------------–
1. origin: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482
“New Torah For Modern Minds
Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses. The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred. The same is true of the tumbling of the walls of Jericho. And David, far from being the fearless king who built Jerusalem into a mighty capital, was more likely a provincial leader whose reputation was later magnified to provide a rallying point for a fledgling nation.
Such startling propositions – the product of findings by archaeologists digging in Israel and its environs over the last 25 years – have gained wide acceptance among non-Orthodox rabbis. But there has been no attempt to disseminate these ideas or to discuss them with the laity – until now.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60 years. Called "Etz Hayim" ("Tree of Life" in Hebrew), it offers an interpretation that incorporates the latest findings from archaeology, philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the Bible as a human rather than divine docu-ment. “
2. Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations (or “mythicizing” from P, M, M, L and J) and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a ma-mzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). An-alyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Ludemann, Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, ) via the NT and related doc-uments have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.
The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hitt-ites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.
earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html
For added "pizzazz", Catholic theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".
Current RCC problems:
Pedophiliac priests, an all-male, mostly white hierarchy, atonement theology and original sin!!!!
3., Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley, Roger Williams, the Great “Babs” et al, founders of Christian-based religions or combination religions also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immacu-late co-nceptions).
Current problems:
Adulterous preachers, pedophiliac clerics, "propheteering/ profiteering" evangelicals and atonement theology,
3. Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven, warmongering, hallucinating Arab, who also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.
This agenda continues as shown by the ma-ssacre in Mumbai, the as-sas-sinations of Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, the Ft. Hood follower of the koran, and the Filipino “koranics”.
And who funds this muck and stench of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.
Current crises:
The Sunni-Shiite blood feud and the warmongering, womanizing (11 wives), hallucinating founder.
5. Hinduism (from an online Hindu site) – "Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centered and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’."
The caste/laborer system, reincarnation and cow worship/reverence are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism."
Current problems:
The caste system, reincarnation and cow worship/reverence.
6. Buddhism- "Buddhism began in India about 500 years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow."
"However, in Buddhism, like so many other religions, fanciful stories arose concerning events in the life of the founder, Siddhartha Gautama (fifth century B.C.):"
Archaeological discoveries have proved, beyond a doubt, his historical character, but apart from the legends we know very little about the circu-mstances of his life. e.g. Buddha by one legend was supposedly talking when he came out of his mother's womb.
Bottom line: There are many good ways of living but be aware of the hallucinations, embellishments, lies, and myths surrounding the founders and foundations of said rules of life.
Then, apply the Five F rule: "First Find the Flaws, then Fix the Foundations". And finally there will be religious peace and religious awareness in the world!!!!!