Hajj Pilgrims Skeptical Obama Will Bring Serious Change

MINA, Saudi Arabia — After pelting a symbol of the devil with stones, the Iraqi pilgrim knelt and prayed that one day soon all sorts of devils will be removed from his homeland _ among them, that American forces will soon leave.

Hatim Mohammed al-Sakr said he hoped President-elect Barack Obama will carry out that promise.

"We have to wait and see if Obama will do that, but I'm optimistic about it," al-Sakr said Tuesday.

But he and many others among pilgrims conducting the annual hajj pilgrimage this year were skeptical Obama will bring deeper changes to American policies that have angered many across the Islamic world, such as U.S. support for Israel in the conflict with the Palestinians and Arab nations.

Faith, not politics, is naturally at the center of the hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime journey for the faithful who hope to purify their souls of sin with the rites at Islam's holiest sites around the city of Mecca. On Tuesday, for a second day, pilgrims filed past three walls symbolizing Satan, stoning each with seven pebbles in a symbolic ritual of rejecting temptation and evil.

But the hajj is also the biggest gathering of Muslims _ nearly 3 million this year, from across the world _ so it also becomes for many pilgrims a moment of unity and a chance to assess the problems of the Islamic world and pray for change.

Many Muslims have seen the United States as a cause of many of those problems under the administration of President George W. Bush. They have viewed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the tensions with Iran and abuses of prisoners in the war on terror as signs of American enmity toward Arabs and Muslims.

They're hopeful for at least some improvement under Obama but doubt the changes will go deep.

"I expect him not to follow a confrontational approach like Bush," said Ezlan Benbasar, a pilgrim from Malaysia. "But at the same time, I don't expect deep changes in U.S. policy or changes in favor of Muslims."

Most had little expectation Obama will change what Arabs and Muslims widely see as a bias toward Israel in the Middle East, which they see as blocking progress in the Mideast peace process.

"Obama is circled by many pro-Israel advisers. Reforms under Obama, if any, won't go beyond cosmetic changes," said another Malaysian pilgrim, Mohammed Yousri.

"But I do expect Obama will fulfill his promise of shutting down Guantanamo prison," he added, referring to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The hajj, which began Saturday, will close on Wednesday, when pilgrims return to Mecca for a "farewell" circling of the Kaaba _ a cube-shaped stone structure draped in black cloth that Muslims around the world face during their five daily prayers.

Comments

[windypaperboy]

There is nothing but continuing AlPAC vvars at sight.

[windypaperboy]

0bama has already brought no change. His nationaI security team is AlPAC's nationaI security team.

[adampap]

Wow I didn't think these people were capable of skepticism. They should turn their skepticism towards their faith rather than Obama for the sake of humanity.

Islam is probably the greatest threat to our world today. The tenets of Islam encourage extremism and as long as we fail to criticize these ideas extremists will continue to threaten our existence. Islam itself is the problem, not Islamic extremists. The extremists' actions draw considerable support from the Koran. As long as Islam exists, Islamic extremists will exist.

[Capo]

Ignorant people like you made the rest of the world hate us.Learned about other people's religion before you criticize, quit believing what you see on Rubert Murdoch media.

[GZLives]

Where are the street demonstrations about Islamists killing Muslims or Sunni killing Shia or Shia killing Sunni equal to the outrage that a dozen cartoons caused in the Islamic world? Non existent

Where are the fatwas against the Islamists running around Thailand, India, Philippines murdering and beheading ? Non existent

Where's the outrage about honor killings and stoning and racist homophobic sexist and anti Semitic laws throughout the Muslim world?
Non existent

Can I worship as a Christian in Saudi Arabia?
Can I visit a church there?

I'm sorry if I don't really care what these people want or expect from our President.
I want them to do something about a violent strain of their faith that threatens the civilized world including many many Muslims themselves.

And I want President Obama to see for himself what many others already see clearly and then act accordingly, and I assume that's exactly what he'll do.

[piul05]

Part I

Let's indulge your out of context, dehistoricized, culturally-challenged and sociologically illiterate little rant and come up with some counterpoint...

Question 1:
http://islam.about.com/cs/currentevents/a/9_11statements.htm
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/023135.php
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=149141
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/03/massive-muslim-protest-in-bahrain.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2006/03/iraq-060314-irin01.htm
http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/oaw05/irq-sectarian.htm

Question 2:
http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/terror.htm
http://www.saudiembassy.net/2004News/Press/PressDetail.asp?cIndex=217
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/muslim-seminary-issues-fatwa-against-terrorism-838162.html
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/007409.php

Question 3:
http://islamicmyths.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/stoning-to-dead-is-against-islam/
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/04/iraqi-kurds-protest-against-honor.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/02/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Honor-Killing.php
http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/ahmedmotala/2008/11/28/violence-against-women-in-the-muslim-community/
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503543392
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=317674&rel_no=1

[piul05]

Part II

Question 4:
Again, a question without background; Christians and Jews are people of the dhimma, and therefore, protected in their right to worship. Political, and not religious events (i.e. the Palestinian Diaspora) created the rift so many people like yourself are happy to exploit as a civilizational issue . So, whereas you can't worship in Saudi Arabia - that treasured ally run by ONE family - as it's home to a particularly unfriendly sect of Islam (Wahhabism), which, by the way, is at odds with all the other 1 billion or more Muslims throughout the world, you can, whether you are a Christian or a Jew worship in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Syria, Iran, UAE, Lebanon, Indonesia, Azerbaijan. And I'm sure I forgot some country.

So, whereas it's true that nobody should expect anything from another country's President, one can surely expect that President not to interfere in one's internal affairs, just as foreign meddling would be unacceptable for the American people.

[MagisterLudi]

"Christians and Jews are people of the dhimma, and therefore, protected in their right to worship."

Now for facts: Dhimmis were excluded from public office and armed service. When riding, they were required to dismount upon meeting any M-lim.
Dhimmi was not allowed to give evidence in court against a M-lim, and his oath was unacceptable in an Isl-amic court.
In many countries the Je-ws were required to go barefoot. (Morocco and Yemen)
If admitted to a public bath, he had to wear bells to signal his presence.
Ston-ing Je-ws and Ch-ristia-ns ‑ especially in Ar-ab‑populated regions. ‑

In modern times there's a return to dimmitude in countries where the sh-ari’a is applied or constitutes the source of the laws: Egy-pt, Ir-an, Su-dan, Nig-eria, Pa-kistan, and until recently in Afgha-nistan.

[MagisterLudi]

"Christ-ians and Jew-s are people of the dhimma, and therefore, protected in their right to worship."
Really?
Now for facts: Dhimmis were excluded from public office and armed service. When riding, had to dismount upon meeting any M-lim.
Not allowed to give evidence in court against a M-lim.
In many countries the Je-ws were required to go barefoot. (Morocco and Yemen)
If admitted to a public bath, Dhimmi had to wear bells to signal his presence.
Ston-ing Je-ws and Ch-ristia-ns especially in Ar-ab-populated regions.

In modern times there's a return to dimmitude in countries where the sh-ari"a is applied or constitutes the source of the laws: Egy-pt, Ir-an, Su-dan, Nig-eria, Pa-kistan, and until recently in Afgha-nistan.