The High Price of Islam’s Holiest Site

There also remains the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, which both openly detest and denounce the Saudi regime and dub it ungodly. Lately, they have been less vocal in their attacks on the regime, possibly as they are content with the Saudi military campaign in Yemen, which is bound to coincide with their own interest to eradicate the Shiites. Predecessors of these contemporary movements used the pilgrimage season to challenge the Saudi regime in 1979, when a group led by Juhayman al-Otaibi and Mohammad al-Qahtani, both militant Saudi radicals, seized the Grand Mosque and held many pilgrims as hostages. Current Saudi jihadis have not attacked the regime or its institutions, but instead have focused their suicide bombings on Shiite places of worship since the beginning of 2015. It remains to be seen whether they will turn their attention to attacking the regime itself.

The Saudis need to be extra vigilant this year to prevent another tragedy — one that might not be attributable to corrupt construction companies or weather conditions. Serving Muslims, as the Saudi leadership claims is its goal, involves greater responsibility to solve urgent political problems rather than fueling schisms and hatred between those Muslims. The partisan politics of the Saudi regime will only further the polarization that unfolds during the most important ritual in Islam, the hajj.



Article Appeared @http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/09/15/guests-of-god-pay-high-price?int=a14709

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *