"Hajj" Podge
14 Jan 2006
The Hajj, an annual pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim is obligated to perform once in their lifetime, is the fifth pillar of Islam. According to the Prophet Mohammed, “Islam does not allow for failure to perform the Hajj.” In other words, the Muslim’s only way to heaven is by way of pilgrimage to Mecca. Thus, the Hajj is viewed as the pinnacle of a Muslim’s life, more important to him than his birth or death.
Interestingly, the rites and rituals of the Muslim’s Hajj predate Islam. The ancient Arabs performed these same ceremonies as part of their idolatrous pilgrimages to Mecca long before Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was ever born. Mohammed, perhaps in a magnanimous gesture to the Meccans, retained these pagan practices in his new religion. To do so, however, Mohammed had to fabricate a story for each pagan observance. By Islamizing these idolatrous rituals with fabricated stories Mohammed legitimized their observance by Muslim pilgrims and justified the performance of ancient pagan practices by modern-day Muslims.
One of the important rituals of the Hajj is the “Al-Jamarat,” or the “Stoning Ceremony,” commonly called the “Stoning of Satan.” This ritual is performed by throwing seven small pebbles at three stone pillars that presumably stand on three sites where Satan appeared to Abraham. According to Mohammed, Satan tempted Abraham three times to disobey Allah’s command to sacrifice Ishmael. On each occasion Abraham and Ishmael drove the devil away by pelting him with stones seven times. By stoning the Devil’s Pillars Hajj pilgrims are believed to drive the devil from their lives and purify themselves from sin.
This past Thursday, 345 people were trampled to death by thousands of Muslim pilgrims stampeding to complete the stoning ceremony before sunset. According to Islamic tradition, the Muslim pilgrim must hit each of the Devil’s Pillars with seven stones between midday and sunset of the third day of the Hajj. If the pilgrim fails to do so in the allotted time, his pilgrimage is invalidated and his hope of heaven lost, unless of course he returns on pilgrimage another year with a faster pace and better aim.
Tragedy is no stranger to the Hajj pilgrimage, especially to the stoning ceremony. Before this year’s tragedy, pilgrims were trampled to death during the devil-stoning ritual in 2004 (244), 2001 (35), 1998 (180), and 1994 (270). Despite a recent attempt to aid poor-throwing pilgrims by replacing the stone pillars with three 85-feet-long walls, as well as a widening of the ramps that lead up to the walls to the width of an eight-lane highway, the stoning ceremony continues to prove deadly to Hajj pilgrims. No matter how hard Saudi officials try, they’ll never prevent pagan superstition and false religion from turning into a deadly proposition, nor can anyone else for that matter.
If you would like to know more about Islam, the world’s fastest growing religion, you may order my book THE TRUTH ABOUT ISLAM from our online store.
Don Walton
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