Saudis trying to whitewash Hajj crush: Scholar
Press TV has conducted an interview with Mohammad Ali Elahi, director of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Michigan, to discuss the Thursday stampede incident during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, a city near Mecca.
Elahi says a member of Saudi authorities has claimed the Mina incident and the crane collapse in Mecca, both of which left hundreds killed and wounded, were the “will of God”, but in reality, such incidents take place as a result of carelessness and corruption of the kingdom. He adds there is an urgency to keep the religion of Islam from being hijacked by some people who are telling the public that the tragedy is the will of God.
He thinks all Islamic nations and the international community are expected to blame Saudi officials for their irresponsibility because there is no justification for the tragedy in Mina.
The Islamic scholar states that the trampling to death of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia is a shame for the Saudi royal family and an embarrassment for the international community for being silent regarding the incident, which is similar to the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Elahi also criticizes the Saudi regime for not allowing other Islamic nations and organizations to contribute to the management of the Hajj pilgrimage and prevent such tragic catastrophes.
Saudi Arabia has recently announced the kingdom is able to host up to five million pilgrims for the Hajj rituals, but the regime seems not to be capable of managing the holiest Islamic pilgrimage even for two million people, the scholar mentions.
Slamming the mismanagement of the Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia, he notes the war-torn state of Iraq was able to hold the Arbaeen rituals, marking the 40th day after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, without any single deadly incident last year, while some 15 million people took part in the ceremony.
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