Hajj: On Blocking Access to the Ka'aba

Ever since the great Sultan Salahauddin Ayyubi (ra) took up the title "Servant of the Two Holy Mosques"  (Khadim Al-Haramain Al-Sharifain) in the medieval ages as a mark of his quest to attain nearness to Allah (swt) while he was fighting the infidels in the Crusades, many other Muslim monarchs who presided over the holy land of Makkah and Madina continued to assume this title in their times. These days, the Saudi Arabian monarchs take pride in describing their official title as the Khadim Al-Haramain Al-Sharifain, pointing to the significance of the Two Holy Mosques and the land of Makkah and Madina in Muslim spiritual and political imagination.The title refers to their important responsibility for the upkeep of mosques and holy sites within Makkah and Madina and protection of pilgrims on the Hajj. 

As the land of Makkah and Madina belong to every Muslim, all Muslims have a right to visit the Holy lands to perform the religious rites. Sectarian differences among Muslim communities and political disputes among Muslim nations are part of the existential condition of the Islamic world today. These disputes and issues should never be used as a pretext to discriminate against specific groups of Muslims or to upset the Divine order that mandates the free flow of pilgrimage into Islam's holiest shrines. Most certainly, the men whom claim to be the "trustees and stewards  of the Holy Places" have no business creating barriers in the sacred journeys of all  or any of God's devotees- regardless of their denominational identity or national origin.  

The Saudi leadership, however, has a dismal record of playing politics with Hajj in more recent times. Recently, in the aftermath of the economic blockade by the Saudi-led four nations against it, the State of Qatar has complained that its nationals are unable to register through the official channels for the Hajj this year as a direct consequence of the blockade measures instituted by the Saudi authorities due to political disputes. Likewise, speaking against the backdrop of Iranian pilgrims facing problems at the hands of the Saudi authorities, the Iranian spiritual leader Ayatullah Khamenei recently made an instructive statement:  

“The land of Mecca belongs to all Muslims. No one should think they can do whatever they want on this land. All Muslims have the same right with regard to Mecca and Medina.

“No one should manipulate and prevent the concepts of Hajj, or the points and rituals that exist in Hajj. The individuals and the government that prevent these concepts are, indeed, “creating an obstacle in the way of God” [Quran: 2:217]. The Ka'aba belongs to all the Muslims. According to the Quran, Holy Mecca belongs to all Muslims and all Muslims have the same right over Mecca and Medina. No one should think they can do whatever they want on this land.

He went on to say: “Unfortunately, the government of Saudi Arabia creates problems for the Hajj pilgrims and prevents some rituals to be performed; even though, it is righteous to allow them perform those rituals. These issues must be regarded as the Muslims’ demands, which should not be forgotten".

In his Eid-ul-Adha Sermon of 22 August 2018 (10 Dhul-Hijjah 1439 AH), Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius spoke movingly about the plight of the Ahmadi Muslims in our times who are unable to access the land of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) for the purpose of accomplishing their devotional obligations relating to the fifth pillar of Islam. In countries like Pakistan and elsewhere, in passport/visa applications for purposes of Hajj and Umrah visits, all Muslims had been forced to declare statements denying and condemning the Promised Massih (as). Such mindless sectarian prejudices and administrative highhandedness by the authorities smack of Pharoahan tactics. Drawing on Qur'anic teachings and the Holy Prophet (sa)'s instructions, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) calls for intense soul-searching by those concerned before it is too late for them. 

Read the Extracts from the Eid Sermon: 

Islam: Dark Clouds, Silver Lining

The situation in the world is extremely worrying for all Muslims (and all my disciples in Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam) and I am again reminding you all to pray earnestly that Allah (swt) may remove the dangers which face Islam which is being encircled by dark clouds which only God can remove whenever He pleases.

There is nowhere in the world where Muslims are not in danger directly or indirectly and we do not see any intelligent Islamic response. There is only one despicable response which they know: persecuting their own Muslim brethrens and finishing Islam by their own hands. In addition to the civil wars and the religious strife which they wage between themselves but when it concerns the Divine Manifestation and the belief in the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) and in this era this humble self the Khalifatullah, all the Muslim sects don't hesitate to group together to counter-attack what they term as heretics. It is on this basis that they seem to agree and help each other to crush the divine truth. Since the advents of non law-bearing prophets/ messengers after Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), they seem to have lost their bearings when they denied and calumniated the men of God.

The Middle East on Short Fuse

Based on recurring Divine inspirations and special Messages in recent times, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Khalifatullah  Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius is inviting the world's attention to the looming dangers lurking beneath our troubled global order. These Divinely-inspired warnings can be read in his recent Friday Sermons, shared also through this Blog. When they look at, read up and reflect on these profound words intimating about the extraordinary dangers facing our small world; knowledgeable Muslims will remember the prophecies contained in the Holy Qur’an, as well as in the Prophetic traditions on the portents/events of the End Times. Ahmadis among them will also remember the dire warnings lefty behind by the Promised Massih (as) in the last century and also the unfulfilled aspects of those grim prophecies concerning the Later Days. 

The World at the Brink

There is little doubt that humanity is at the brink of Disaster(s) in our times. World nations are facing multiple dangers of an existential proportion: of environmental degradation, species extinction and the grim prospect of nuclear annihilation. The unsustainable consumption patterns in the industrialized world have also produced the irreversibly great danger of global warming and climate change, as science now confirms. The devastating consequences of this drastic change in weather patterns would be felt everywhere. Indeed, climate change threatens as it comes home not just in the main lands of the industrial world, but even the inhabitants of remote island nations who had done nothing comparable to  to bring about the whole problem. 

Likewise, powerful nations have arrogated to themselves ‘total security’ of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and they threaten other nations that defy their dictates. So much so that countries like North Korea seek nuclear capability as a security imperative; triggering global fears of a nuclear war in the not so distant future! Short of being fully wiped out from the very face of the earth through the aforesaid blinding passions of riches and excesses, the unbridled armament race among the nations has the potential of promising a veritable Hell on Earth for those of us- the hapless common humans- who are condemned to live amidst all these dangers.

The multilateral system, forged after the Second World War, is bedevilled by multiple crises and it seems incapable of providing effective solutions to the manifold challenges of global governance- poverty and rising inequality;environmental degradation; the arms race and the quest for nuclear weapons; internal conflicts and terrorism; racism and xenophobia, national chauvinism and Islamophobia, etc. International institutions and organizations are designed in such a way that these works to protect the entrenched interests of the Big Nations, rather than seeking to sub serve the larger cause of global justice and equity. These organizations largely ignore the real concerns of the poorer nations when they raise their experiences of political injustice and  colonial exploitation.