Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islamic practice. Every adult Muslim is required to perform hajj once in a lifetime if they can afford the journey. It is staged on the 8th to 13th days of Dhu’l Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The Saudi royal family – which calls itself the “Custodian of the Two[Read More...]
The vast lands of Arafat, the circumambulation around Kaaba, the humongous swarms of humanity at Rami Jamrat, the long, very long queues outside the washrooms at the tent city Mina! The list of memorable moments from our last year’s Hajj is endless. No one in his wildest of the nightmares had dreamed Hajj 2020, would be so contrastingly different. Can’t[Read More...]
AMMAN, JORDAN — Travel agents in Jordan and Palestine have reported that Saudi Arabia is no longer extending entry visas to Palestinian holders of temporary Jordanian passports, effectively banning them from undertaking the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
Prefatory Note: The post below in the slightly modified text of an interview by the Tunisian journalist Awatef Ben Ali on behalf of the Qatar newspaper, Al Sharq, August 26, 2018.)
Q 1: From the perspective of international law, is the blockade on the State of Qatar and the 13 demands of the countries of the blockade legal and respecting international sovereignty?
(MPN) Four years ago, much of the United States watched in horror as the annual Boston Marathon became the site of a terror attack – an attack that claimed three lives, injured more than 260 people, and captivated the news cycle for months.
By Orouba Othman | Al-Akhbar | October 7, 2013
This year, the mandatory Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, or hajj, will compound the Palestinians’ woes. Palestinian pilgrims will be greeted by a company that assists in their repression – and even torture – under the Israeli occupation regime. Indeed, hajj this year will be brought to you by none other than G4S.
