Some time ago ABC [who else?] had a programme on Compass all about the Hajj. I must say I was impressed with the enormous ,obvious devotion of the Muslims to their beliefs. it was almost palpable.
That such a huge body of people could live in a constricted area without irritation was amazing.
But such obsession with a religion ,though interesting, made me aware that this should be regional religion only. That it should be contained only in the areas where it thrived simply because to take it to countries where it was not followed would only lead to absolute resentment. This has happened and it has lead to unhappiness to the followers who cannot understand the resistance , it has lead to unhappiness of the other religions who do not want this obsessive,oppressive dogma any where near them.
Far better to keep it to its own place.

Ooooook... JOKEtime. In Asia there is a brand of monosodium glutenate which is called 'Ajinimoto'..

Q.What do you call a Muslim Haji, who has no motorcyle ?
A. Haji-no-moto :)

Alllright.. yes its an Asian contextual joke..but makes em roll around the floor there.

Now.. to more serious matters. The issue of the 'compulsory/obligatory' pillars of Islam are interesting.

1/ If you 'don't do them are u Muslim and therefore paradise bound ?
2/ If you DO do them but with resentment, are they any good ?
3/ What is the point in an Islamic state of 'enforcing' such 'obligatory' rituals if they arn't worth squat due to your heart condition ?

The simple answer is that what REALLY matters in Islam is power, the political power which can be exercised through such 'obligatory' rituals.

You can pray 5 or 5000times with a lustful heart.. -any good ?
You can pay the 'zakat' with grumbling and will that do you any good ?
You can confess mohamed as the messenger of Allah and that Allah is one, and in the next breath curse them.. will that help ?

The 'compulsory' or 'obligatory' nature of repetitious rituals in religion are to me, clear signs of the emptiness of such a faith.

Jesus said "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me"

If a wrong attitude is able to completely invalidate the eficacy of 'ritual' why make them 'compulsory'?..again we are back to power and politics, to shaping a community with an imprint of the leaders Jackboot ?

There is no such thing as a 'compulsory' ritual in Christ.

There is one experience which occurs ONCE (Baptism) and another which is freely celebrated as often as desired (Communion)

Baptism comes the closest to 'compulsory' but is far from it. No one who has not confessed with their lips and believed in their heart that Christ is Saviour and Lord would be expected to symbolize that new life with such a ceremony. Further, no one who knows Christ and his teaching would willfully hold back from it.

I wasn't going to bother with this article but for the benefit of those who still believe islam is an abrahamic monotheist religion, let me mention a few facts:

At first, Mohammad ordered his followers to face Jerusalem when they prayed, then when he was dismissed as a fraud by the Jews he changed the "kiblah" from Jerusalem to Maccah.

When muslims chant "allahu akbar" it does not mean ‘God is great’ but literally
"allah is greater" i.e. greater than any other diety (including Jehovah of the bilble).

Mohammad knew the great significance for Judeo-Christianity of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Because he had to prove that his god 'allah' was superior he arrogantly built a mosque called Al-Aqsa (meaning the ultimate or the furthest) right ON TOP of the Jewish temple therefore claiming a piece of the action in the real holy land AND his superiority and animosity to both Jews and Christians.

The Kaabah - that black square building that muslims circle at hajj - is nothing but a pagan temple that was once full of idols and gods (365 gods) that Mohammad and his tribe worshiped. As a matter of fact it still has a black stone in it that is worshipped part of the paganistic rituals of the Hajj affair.

After all the prayers, the alms to the poor, Ramadan fasting, Hajj, Jihad, etc, the muslim still does not have any assurance of being accepted by God (which they think is Allah).

Assurance of salvation is only found through accepting Jesus The Christ as our Lord and saviour.

There is no other way.

Jesus of the bible said: "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate (himself the shepherd), but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)

I think if muslims wnat to walk round and round in cirles,that's their business.But to make it all worth while, what about trucking in a couple of hundred thousand tons of grapes.Or what about a game of musical chairs,with some western rock music.Rock around the clock comes to mind.
I bet the shoe shops around mecca must be killing a pig.

Bashir Goth,

Would not those 'tears shed every time the name of Prophet Mohammed was mentioned' be better used for the men, women and children he took captive, enslaved, executed and even raped? Yes, read your own hadiths! Why don't these events bother Muslims at all? It is not as if they are hidden. One can easily find them in the earliest accounts of the life of your dear prophet. Yes, but Muslims ignore them.

Excuse me, but I must have missed the "piety and virtuousness" that are the expected result of the hajj. Those that have done the 'sacred journy' are just as good at preaching hate and anger or yelling 'death to infidels' as the rest of Muslims. What hypocrisy!

As to "quality between human beings" I think you should consider the fact that wherever Islam dominates, non-Muslims suffer oppression, persecution and are treated as second class citizens - or worse!

Not to mention that the land of the hajj (Arabia) is itself noted for the mistreadment of non-Muslims, not to mention half of its own citizens. By going there and participating it the event, a Muslim implicidly consents to and supports the injustices and discrimination practiced in that land.

John kactuz

PS: I hate to bust your bubble about the 'equality' of Muslims at the hajj, but special arrangements and times are reserved for Arab as opposed to non-Arab Muslims, and Saudis are given even more preferences as compared to the great 'unwashed' masses. I don't know how many times I have heard this from Paki, Indian and other non-Arab Muslims

The best-selling author and Muslim dissident Ibn Warraq in the German left-wing magazine 'Der Spiegel'.

"Unless, we show some solidarity, unashamed, noisy, public solidarity with the Danish cartoonists, then the forces that are trying to impose a totalitarian ideology will have won; the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. Don't apologize. [...]

This raises another more general problem: the inability of the West to defend itself intellectually and culturally. Be proud, do not apologize. [...]

The west is the source of the liberating ideas of individual liberty, political democracy, the rule of law, human rights and cultural freedom. It is the west that has raised the status of women, fought against slavery, defended freedom of enquiry, expression and conscience. No, the west needs no lectures on the superior virtue of societies who keep their women in subjection, cut off their clitorises, stone them to death for alleged adultery, throw acid on their faces, or deny the human rights of those considered to belong to lower castes. [...]

Freedom of expression is much needed in the Islamic world. By defending our values, we are teaching the Islamic world a valuable lesson, we are helping them by submitting their cherished traditions to Enlightenment values.

NBC is celebrating Easter this year with a special edition of the gay sitcom "Will & Grace," in which a Christian conservative cooking-show host, played by Britney Spears, offers seasonal recipes -- "Cruci-fixin's." The same network, in its coverage of the global riots over the Danish cartoons, has declined to show any of the offending artwork out of "respect" for the Muslim faith.

Which means out of respect for their ability to locate the executive vice president's home in the suburbs and firebomb his garage.

But upon reflection, perhaps we as a nation can for once sit back during the predominantly European contest of who are the courageous and who are the cowards. Because, as The Telegraph affirms, "for let us not delude ourselves: it is organized violence, or the threat of violence, that has driven the decisions that have been made in the past week"