Can you imagine how services to Muslim pilgrims and care of the Two Holy Mosques would be if Saudi Arabia did not exist? That is not to say Saudis want people to feel indebted, but who would serve like them? Their consecutive kings have chosen the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” instead of other glorifying titles granted to monarchs.
Saudi Arabia has looked after the Haj season since its establishment. Services have flourished since the days of founder and King Abdul Aziz, who personally looked after Haj-related matters. Back then, the phrase “there’s no Haj like that performed during King Abdul Aziz’s era” spread across the country.
Rashed bin Saad Al-Baz wrote about the origin of this phrase: “King Abdul Aziz used to send letters to other countries’ princes, leaders and tribal leaders around two months before Haj. He would ask them to count the number of needy or poor people who can’t perform Haj, either because they could not afford it or because they had a disability.”
Al-Baz wrote that these pilgrims were offered “unprecedented services and facilitations.” King Abdul Aziz provided services to the disabled and housing to the needy. He worked relentlessly to provide safe shelter for pilgrims.
However, as the Haj season approaches every year, we hear hostile accusations from Iran and isolationist Arab nationalists who envy Saudi Arabia for its strategic position and religious significance. An Arab daily even claimed that Saudi Arabia coordinated with Israel to ensure the security of the Haj season.
For a half century now, Saudi Arabia has gotten better at securing the Haj season. Meanwhile, Iran has incited its proxies in the Gulf region to destabilize the season since the early 1980s. It caused massacres that were committed by Hezbollah factions in the Gulf countries. Confessions by faction members that they were affiliated with Iran and received official orders to disturb the Haj season in order to embarrass the Saudis have been broadcast on media channels.
Tehran has been involved in many incidents that led to the death of pilgrims. One of the most prominent incidents was on July 31, 1987, when Iranian pilgrims carrying photos of then Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini and Iranian flags organized demonstrations during Haj, which led to blocked roads and the deaths of pilgrims, citizens and security men.
On July 10, 1989, a Hezbollah cell in Kuwait allegedly planned explosions at the holy sites. One bomb exploded on one of the roads leading to the Grand Mosque, while another exploded above the bridge nearby. Saudi police arrested 20 Kuwaitis, 16 of them accused of planning the explosions. Their confessions were broadcast on the Saudi TV.
Last year, an official from Iran’s Haj mission told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the stampede that killed hundreds was caused by a group of around 300 Iranian pilgrims who did not follow instructions issued by the local Haj authorities. Tehran also forged the identity of an ambassador among the pilgrims, thus violating civil laws and regulations followed in all countries.
Pilgrims from Iran will not perform Haj this year. This is unfortunate, but who pushed against their attendance? Does this mean Tehran will not carry out acts of sabotage? Have we forgotten that it previously used Hezbollah cells in the Gulf region, and that it can influence people of other nationalities who have the same ideology and can act on its behalf?
Iranian ideological mentality is based on historical legacies and grudges engraved and guarded in their memories. Thus Haj to them has been a provocative subject since the days of Iran’s revolution.
Its mullahs feel that Saudi Arabia carries religious and spiritual weight, which they hope to attain in the long run, but in the short term they wish to sabotage it. It is scary when religious rites are violated by a political regime that claims to be religious, as glorifying these rites is the pinnacle of hearts’ piety.
Saudi Arabia has looked after the Haj season since its establishment. Services have flourished since the days of founder and King Abdul Aziz, who personally looked after Haj-related matters. Back then, the phrase “there’s no Haj like that performed during King Abdul Aziz’s era” spread across the country.
Rashed bin Saad Al-Baz wrote about the origin of this phrase: “King Abdul Aziz used to send letters to other countries’ princes, leaders and tribal leaders around two months before Haj. He would ask them to count the number of needy or poor people who can’t perform Haj, either because they could not afford it or because they had a disability.”
Al-Baz wrote that these pilgrims were offered “unprecedented services and facilitations.” King Abdul Aziz provided services to the disabled and housing to the needy. He worked relentlessly to provide safe shelter for pilgrims.
However, as the Haj season approaches every year, we hear hostile accusations from Iran and isolationist Arab nationalists who envy Saudi Arabia for its strategic position and religious significance. An Arab daily even claimed that Saudi Arabia coordinated with Israel to ensure the security of the Haj season.
For a half century now, Saudi Arabia has gotten better at securing the Haj season. Meanwhile, Iran has incited its proxies in the Gulf region to destabilize the season since the early 1980s. It caused massacres that were committed by Hezbollah factions in the Gulf countries. Confessions by faction members that they were affiliated with Iran and received official orders to disturb the Haj season in order to embarrass the Saudis have been broadcast on media channels.
Tehran has been involved in many incidents that led to the death of pilgrims. One of the most prominent incidents was on July 31, 1987, when Iranian pilgrims carrying photos of then Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini and Iranian flags organized demonstrations during Haj, which led to blocked roads and the deaths of pilgrims, citizens and security men.
On July 10, 1989, a Hezbollah cell in Kuwait allegedly planned explosions at the holy sites. One bomb exploded on one of the roads leading to the Grand Mosque, while another exploded above the bridge nearby. Saudi police arrested 20 Kuwaitis, 16 of them accused of planning the explosions. Their confessions were broadcast on the Saudi TV.
Last year, an official from Iran’s Haj mission told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the stampede that killed hundreds was caused by a group of around 300 Iranian pilgrims who did not follow instructions issued by the local Haj authorities. Tehran also forged the identity of an ambassador among the pilgrims, thus violating civil laws and regulations followed in all countries.
Pilgrims from Iran will not perform Haj this year. This is unfortunate, but who pushed against their attendance? Does this mean Tehran will not carry out acts of sabotage? Have we forgotten that it previously used Hezbollah cells in the Gulf region, and that it can influence people of other nationalities who have the same ideology and can act on its behalf?
Iranian ideological mentality is based on historical legacies and grudges engraved and guarded in their memories. Thus Haj to them has been a provocative subject since the days of Iran’s revolution.
Its mullahs feel that Saudi Arabia carries religious and spiritual weight, which they hope to attain in the long run, but in the short term they wish to sabotage it. It is scary when religious rites are violated by a political regime that claims to be religious, as glorifying these rites is the pinnacle of hearts’ piety.
