A Short History of Hajj Disasters (Revised)

Just when you thought the Hajj stampede season couldn’t get any worse, it did. In my last article I reported 769 deaths and 934 injured in the stampede that occurred on September 24. Now the figure from a composite of the dead reported by individual countries stands at an astounding 1,470 dead with hundreds still missing and at least 1,000 or more injured. This makes this year the most deadly in modern recorded Hajj history. But who really knows what disasters happened 300, 400, or 500 years ago that have been forgotten with the passage of time ?

There were so many dead the Saudis called in bulldozers to push the dead out of the way. How many wounded comatose pilgrims were crushed beneath the treads of heavy bulldozers ? I think the death toll could easily grow to 2,000. The Shia Iranians have estimated the toll at 4,700 dead, but they have offered no reasons to support this total. The Shia Iranians and the Saudi Sunnis are the bitterest of enemies. The Iranians have great self interest in discrediting the Saudis. And by claiming an astronomical casualty figure they intend to give the Saudi king an international black eye.

Four days ago the Saudi king made starting rumors about Islam and the Saudi government a death penalty offense. Can you connect the dots ? The death penalty will be used to suppress “rumors” of a larger Hajj body count. After all, dead men tell no tales.

Also, it becomes very evident that taqqiya can be used against Muslims. The Hajj disaster is very harmful to the reputation of Islam. The Saudis lay claim to being the guardian of the two holy cities, Mecca and Medina. As such they obviously should at the very least make the Hajj a safe experience for all Muslims. But this year’s disaster and earlier disasters belie this charade of safety. Once again sacred deception is being used to protect King Salman.

Can you imagine some Christmas or Easter event in our country where fanatical Christians would trample and destroy 1,500 of their fellow believers ? There would be non-stop coverage by the news media. Constant searching for motives would go on for weeks.

I offer three reasons for the horrendous stampede. First, Muslims do not think rationally. Every area of their life is governed by emotional excess. Rationality does not exist for most Muslims. Stampede is a term used most appropriately for rampaging cattle as well as herds of Muslims.

Secondly, Islam does not believe in the sanctity of human life as does the West. Look at all the mothers who deliberately raise their children to be suicide suicide bombers. Or all the fathers who kill their daughters over trivial notions of violated honor. Muslims do not even cherish the lives of other Muslims.

And thirdly. Islam does not and will never have a concept of the Golden Rule. To do so would require an abandonment of Jihad. And peace might really breakout in the world.