13
Sep
2006
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Forget about Mecca, women of Islam

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Are these people serious?

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Officials are considering an unprecedented proposal to ban women from performing the five Muslim prayers in the immediate vicinity of Islam’s most sacred shrine in Mecca. Some say women are already being kept away.

Muslim pilgrims pray and circle around the Kaaba, center, inside the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest shrine, to bid farewell and complete their pilgrimage known as the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP/Muhammed Muheisen)
Muslim pilgrims pray and circle around the Kaaba, center, inside the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest shrine, to bid farewell and complete their pilgrimage known as the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP/Muhammed Muheisen)
The issue has raised a storm of protest across the kingdom, with some women saying they fear the move is meant to restrict women’s roles in Saudi society even further. But the religious authorities behind the proposal insist its real purpose is to lessen the chronic problem of overcrowding, which has led to deadly riots during pilgrimages at Mecca in the past.

It was unclear why the step was being considered now, but officials say they have growing concerns about overcrowding, particularly at Mecca’s Grand Mosque. The mosque contains the Kaaba, a large stone structure that Muslims around the world face during their daily prayers.

The chief of the King Fahd Institute for Hajj Research, which came up with the plan, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the new restrictions are already in place. There have been word-of-mouth reports of women being asked to pray at new locations away from the white-marbled area surrounding the Kaaba in recent weeks.

Read the rest of the article here.

Okay, they have gotten away with giving women little to no rights. They have gotten away with forcing certain societal roles upon them. They have gotten away with exiling or imprisoning the many women who decided to actually do something about their civil rights. But to mess with something that can ultimately affect a woman’s relationship with God, such as the access of women to a key site in the house of God, is going over the line and is incredibly un-Islamic to say the least. Overcrowding is a huge issue, no one is denying that. If they want to control the population there are other ways to do it – they can limit the number of people who can enter the site (per day or week, depending on the season), for example. They can control timing and how long people can stay there depending on how crowded it is. They can balance the number of men and women. Anything, there are many other options. Banning women from the key site shouldn’t even be one of them, it’s insulting.

I’m not sure whether or not this horrid idea will be approved, millions of women will protest against it and I really doubt they’d have much of a green light to go ahead with the new rule. It’s still disgusting to even think about though.