Although the annual hajj is a time of erasing past sins, some pilgrims are finding it hard to forgive Islamic militants -- including suicide bombers -- for blackening their religion’s image.
| Something tells me they'll somehow do it, though... |
The pilgrimage comes as some militants and clerics in the Arab world have renounced their extremist stands in recent months. They embraced moderation in the wake of international and domestic pressure, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US. While some pilgrims in this holy city said militants don’t deserve forgiveness, many others maintained that forgiveness, like repentance, is crucial to eliminating extremism. "We must not create an enmity with them," Saudi pilgrim Abdullah al-Ghamdi, 27, said of the militants.
Note the surname here. Anybody in your immediate family (as opposed to just the tribe) in the jug for this type of stuff, son?
We have to open a dialogue with them so that they are fully convinced," he said. Syrian merchant and first-time pilgrim Seif Eddin Shalabi disagreed. "By God, we can never forgive them for what they have done," Shalabi said on Tuesday. "They have caused strife between Muslims themselves and between Muslims and the West. Also what about the numerous victims? Who’s to be held accountable for that?"
Well, they're dead. It's all in the past. Time to move on. Maybe a nice riot group hug will bring closure... |
Shalabi said militants have caused resistance to be confused with terrorism, "which has undermined our causes in Palestine and Iraq."
| "... where it's okay to kill and maim and bomb and shoot indiscriminately." |
Shoeib Adamou, from Nigeria, said terrorists cannot even be considered real Muslims. "The whole Muslim community has repeatedly denounced them, so forgiveness is not even an issue here," he said, as waves of pilgrims poured into Mecca for the last rites of a pilgrimage marred by the trampling deaths of 251 people on Sunday.
| Al-Ghamdis are a forgiving lot. When it comes to al-Ghamdis, of course... |
"The door to repentance is open," said Egyptian salesman Mohammed al-Sayed, who was performing his third hajj. "The important thing is that they are sincere."
| Ummm... They're sincere in their desire to kill us all. Does that count? |
Usama Mustafa, an American of Lebanese origin, praised militants who repented, but accused the US and Arab regimes of "pushing the militants to the extreme" -- America through its perceived bias toward Israel, and Arab governments by oppressing their own citizens. "What do they expect from these people? That they smile back at them? The injustice is so clear," said the hospital administrator from Alexandria, Virginia. "We cannot blame them [militants] too much, and we cannot defend them too much," he said. |