{"id":1958,"date":"2005-01-19T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-01-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=1958"},"modified":"2005-01-19T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-01-19T07:00:00","slug":"for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrimage to Mecca: For Muslims this year, a somber and tense hajj"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/haj2005.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"right\">\n<div class=\"caption\">Can you hear me now?<\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Nearly 3 million Muslims have gathered in Mecca (or \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMakkah%23The_spelling_of_the_name\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Makkah<\/a>\u201d as the Saudis spelled it after its English expropriation) for the annual <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Farticle.cgi%3Ffile%3D%2Fnews%2Farchive%2F2005%2F01%2F18%2Finternational1654EST0676.DTL\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Haj<\/a> pilgrimage, which culminates in the Eid-ul-Adha festival on Friday. Foremost on the minds of many are the recent Asian <a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com%2FInternational%2FwireStory%3Fid%3D421963\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">tsunamis<\/a>, which claimed the lives of many in <a href=\"http:\/\/thestar.com.my%2Fnews%2Fstory.asp%3Ffile%3D%2F2005%2F1%2F17%2Flatest%2F20776AnAcehnes%26sec%3Dlatest\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Muslim countries<\/a>, prompting some (ahem) Saudi clerics to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.indiadaily.com%2Fbreaking_news%2F21174.asp\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">blame the victims<\/a>. \u201cHow can it be our fault? This tragedy was too big,\u201d said Haj participant Saeed Abderrahman, an Indonesian from Kalimantan. \u201cI don\u2019t think we could be so bad as that.\u201d Also this year, many are adapting the use of <a href=\"http:\/\/news.ninemsn.com.au%2Farticle.aspx%3Fid%3D28559\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">technology<\/a> to enhance their Haj experience, sending videos from their mobile phones, watching <a href=\"http:\/\/www.islam-online.net%2FEnglish%2FNews%2F2005-01%2F18%2Farticle02.shtml\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">giant screen<\/a> televisions, and sending pictures home by e-mail (although according to the technology of astronomical calculations, some say Eid occurs on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gulf-daily-news.com%2FStory.asp%3FArticle%3D102009%26Sn%3DBNEW%26IssueID%3D27303\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Thursday<\/a>). And lest we forget what neighbourhood we\u2019re in, up to 50,000 security forces have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com%2FnewsArticle.jhtml%3Ftype%3DworldNews%26storyID%3D7337471\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">deployed<\/a> in what is likely the most <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca%2Fcp%2Fworld%2F050118%2Fw0118104.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">tense<\/a> of recent Haj pilgrimages, given the recent brazen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com%2Fopinion_comments.php%3Fid%3DP1242_0_25_0_C\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">attacks<\/a> on Western interests (and their Eastern collateral damage). Speaking of American interests, a Haj of a different sort is also scheduled for Thursday with the inauguration (coronation?) of US President George W. Bush and his orbiting neo-conservative supporters (and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com%2Fstories%2Fafp_world%2Fview%2F127724%2F1%2F.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">even more security<\/a>). The more than 10,000 American Muslims attending the Haj this year will be wondering if they will be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnsnews.com%2F%2FViewNation.asp%3FPage%3DNationarchive200501NAT20050106b.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">stopped<\/a> at the border for questioning as they return (as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arabnews.com%2F%3Fpage%3D4%26%2364258%3Bion%3D0%26article%3D56866%26d%3D1%26m%3D1%26y%3D2005\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hamza Yusuf<\/a> was recently upon returning from Canada). Still, the Haj is a symbol of hope for millions and a dream for many, many more. As one <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Fmiddle_east%2F4181237.stm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">young Briton<\/a> put it, \u201cLike many my age, I hope to perform Hajj one day and from then onwards pray five times daily, perform all my religious duties and never drink again!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.\n<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the fear of attacks by militants in front of them and the weight of the Asian tsunamis behind them, Haj pilgrims look for peace among nearly 3 million fellow believers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":531,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pilgrimage to Mecca: For Muslims this year, a somber and tense hajj<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the fear of attacks by militants in front of them and the weight of the Asian tsunamis behind them, Haj pilgrims look for peace among nearly 3 million fellow believers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pilgrimage to Mecca: For Muslims this year, a somber and tense hajj\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the fear of attacks by militants in front of them and the weight of the Asian tsunamis behind them, Haj pilgrims look for peace among nearly 3 million fellow believers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-01-19T07:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/haj2005.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"zahedamanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"zahedamanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/\",\"name\":\"Pilgrimage to Mecca: For Muslims this year, a somber and tense hajj\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-01-19T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2005-01-19T07:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/871b6e097b0060bce500f444bd5940ba\"},\"description\":\"With the fear of attacks by militants in front of them and the weight of the Asian tsunamis behind them, Haj pilgrims look for peace among nearly 3 million fellow believers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2005\/01\/for_muslims_this_year_a_somber_and_tense_hajj\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pilgrimage to Mecca: For Muslims this year, a somber and tense hajj\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; 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