Mena Tragedy (4)

Welcome to the 4th part of our 8-part series on last year’s tragedy at Mena in holy Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage that led to the martyrdom of some 2,000 pilgrims to the symbolic house of God, the holy Ka’ba, including 464 Iranians, because of the criminal negligence of law and order by the Wahhabi regime of Saudi Arabia, which this year has violated the tenets of Islam by barring pilgrims from Iran from performing the religious obligation of Hajj.

The Saudi clan from the Najd, which were desert brigands who occupied the holy cities of Mecca and Medina some ninety years ago by massacring pilgrims to the holy Ka’ba and the shrine of the Prophet of Islam, and then went on to desecrate and destroy the sacred sites, including the mausoleum of four of the 12 Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, continue to create hurdles in the path of pilgrims to the Land of Revelation.

For instance, at the sacred cemetery of Jannat al-Baqie, which the heretical Wahhabi cult desecrated and destroyed, the devotees are prevented from properly performing the pilgrimage rites. These occupiers of Mecca and Medina, allow only male pilgrims to visit this sacred place and that too at specific hours. They do not permit women to enter the graveyard which was regularly visited by Muslim women at the time of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). It was the habit of the Prophet to salute the souls of the departed at the Baqie Cemetery and pray for them, saying: You have gone ahead, and we will soon join you.

Today, the agents of the Wahhabi regime prevent the faithful from reciting supplications and surahs of the holy Qur’an at the grave sites in Baqie, especially at the dilapidated tombs of Imam Hasan Mojtaba, Imam Zain al-Abedin, Imam Mohammad Baqer, and Imam Ja’far Sadeq (peace upon them). It is the Sacred Cemetery which is revered by all Muslims, whether Shi’a or Sunni, yet the Wahhabis continue with their sacrilegious behaviour with pilgrims at Baqie.

In our yesterday’s programme, while mentioning the suspicious collapse of a crane last year during the Hajj at the Sacred Grand Mosque housing the holy Ka’ba, we had quoted an eyewitness account from a pilgrim named Mohammad, who says: When we arrived in Medina and saluted at the Prophet’s shrine in the courtyard of the Masjid an-Nabi, Saudi security forces dispersed us without any reason. Even inside the Mosque the Wahhabis disturbed the pilgrims, and did not let them properly perform the ritual prayers and other rites.

After a few days of stay in Medina, we left for holy Mecca, and even though God Almighty has described this city as Balad al-Amin or the Safe and Secure Land, the behaviour of the Saudis was rude and at times aggressive. We were shocked at the towering buildings constructed by the Saudi regime around the Sacred Grand Mosque, completely hindering the view of the Holy Ka’ba. After circumambulation of the symbolic House of God, and performing the prayers and other rites, as we were walking towards our hotel, we heard an awful and deafening sound, as if something had crashed inside the Masjid al-Haraam. We ran toward the Mosque and saw a horrific spectacle.

A huge and heavy crane had fallen very near to Maqam-e Ibrahim or the place where Prophet Abraham had stood and prayed to God Almighty after rebuilding the holy Ka’ba. We found several pilgrims crushed to death and several others bleeding and crying. We saw limbs scattered in all directions with blood flowing on the ground. We rushed to help the wounded, but the Saudi forces prevented us. They shouted at us, prevented us from taking pictures, and forced all the pilgrims to leave the precincts of the holy Ka’ba.

The painful scene upset me for several days. The Saudi regime put the number of the dead at 107 and those of the wounded at twice that number, but only God knows how many pilgrims actually lost their life in the unexplained crash of the giant crane.

As usual, the Saudi regime tried to justify its mismanagement by blaming such factors as a heavy gust of wind or God’s Will as the reason for the crash. These incidents ought to jolt the conscience of world Muslims and mobilize them for a global campaign to take the holy cities of Mecca and Medina from the Godless Wahhabis by establishing an international Islamic council to manage these pilgrim centres.

FK/AS/SS