by Morley Evans
This is the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The dots are people. The black cube in the centre is the Kaaba, the Holy of Holies. Muslims easily surpass all other religions with this five-day-pilgrimage. There are millions of people in this picture. They came from all over the world. The largest Hajj was 3.5 million people a few years ago. Last year there were over 2 million.
Where do they sleep? Where do they eat and drink? Where do they pee? Where do they poop? My church doesn’t have problems like these.
All Muslims who are able-bodied and can afford to go must attend at least one Hajj in their lives. Mecca is on the Red Sea in the Hejaz region which was taken over by the Saudis after WWI when they drove out the ruling Hashemite clan. Persian Muslims are all Shia. Saudi Muslims are all Wahhabi Sunni. They have been mortal enemies for centuries. Yet they all go on the Hajj. Iran (Persia) did boycott the Hajj for a few years after 400 Iranians were killed, but diplomatic relations have been restored.
Eldridge Cleaver, a founder of the Black Panther Party, became a Muslim. After Cleaver went on a Hajj, he was transformed by the experience. He said white people and black people were there. Pilgrims included men and women, old and young, rich and poor. Setting aside their differences, everyone was there to worship God. Later, Eldridge Cleaver became a Republican!
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