...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, while fellow believers around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice.
| No reports of disease thus far, which may or may not be meaningful. |
| Twenty-one days for Ebola, unknown (to me) for MERS, generally two weeks for the haj. Update: the incubation period of MERS is 9-12 days. |
Pilgrims had moved to Mina overnight Friday on foot, cycle of violences, and buses from Mount Arafat after the hajj reached its zenith with a day of prayer, as well as tears by pilgrims moved by the sanctity of the spot where Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon 14 centuries ago.
In the stoning ritual, pilgrims throw pebbles, which they collected at Muzdalifah on the way to Mina, at walls to emulate Abraham who is said to have stoned the devil at three locations when he tried to dissuade Abraham from God's order to sacrifice his son.
In conjunction with the stoning, pilgrims offer sacrifices by slaughtering a sheep, whose meat goes to the needy.
Nowadays pilgrims do not carry out this rite themselves, but pay agencies which distribute the meat to Moslems in many countries.
A total of about 1.5 billion Moslems around the world were celebrating Eid al-Adha with sacrifices of sheep, goats and other animals.
Like the stoning, this derives from the story of Abraham who was prepared to fulfill God's command to sacrifice his own son.
This year's hajj attracted just over two million believers including almost 1.4 million from abroad, according to statistics published by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The balance of almost 700,000 came from within the kingdom.
These numbers are roughly the same as last year.
The hajj has drawn a cross-section of humanity, everyone from presidents -- Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to
ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
was among them -- to commoners including a maimed Syrian rebel war veteran, as well as rich and poor pilgrims alike.
The hajj, which officially ends on Tuesday, is the world's largest Moslem gathering.
It is one of the five pillars of Islam that every capable Moslem must perform at least once, the high-point of his or her spiritual life.