Eh, go once for the good stories, fulfill requirements and stock up on Zamzam water, then say farewell- unless you have a daughter who wants to go before she’s married.

As Mr. natural used to say, "None for me thanks."

Lailah, I know a reason why Angel’s got to go- someone’s got hooks into Angel to go once. But just once.

No hajj for me, at least until I know I won’t have to pay jizyah to the most corrupt group of desert bandits and takfiris to take control of the two shrines since the Ummayads were around. As long as thousands of my brothers and sisters can’t go for stupid reasons; not accompanied by a male relative, not having a ‘conversion certificate’ (apparently Ash-Shahid is NOT a sufficient witness), being openly Shia, etc etc,  I’m not sure my hajj would be valid anyway. Plus, and I know this isn’t a new thing with the Saudis, but that stupid fucking rule against letting non-Muslims into Mecca and Medina; The Qu’ran says the Hajj is for ALL MANKIND. It doesn’t say anything about disallowing non-Muslims but we have some probably made up Arab nationalist hadith that says "Uh-uh, Muzzie only area" and then we have the nerve to disparage the Kahanists (who are also nuts, to be fair) for wanting Jerusalem to be all Jewish. The first Sikh Guru, Nanak, from a Hindu family, went to hajj. Some people use it as proof that he was a Muslim, but to me it’s more evidence that they didn’t used to demand you pass some stupid test to enter the shrines.

The ipod thing made me laugh though, because my friend Hassan, a Saudi Shia, was over there snapping pictures in Medina during hajj last year. The religious police approached him and because, as he explained "they’re not too bright", he just erased one picture, told them that he’d cleared the whole camera, and they believed him and moved on.

Like you (and I apologize for the gross generalization in advance) I love Arab hospitality, but get seriously creeped out by Arab groupthink sometimes.

Well, that brings up an important point: does making Hajj mean that you approve, in some fashion, of what the KSA is up to? There are folk who decided to swallow their disgust and get an obligation over with- sort of like plunging your hand into the toilet to fetch your wedding ring. But should Hajj be like that? I’m torn, and I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way. And Angel, I didn’t say that your idea wasn’t worthy; I said it would be difficult to do. That’s not the same thing.

FM
I wouldn’t gainsay someone’s decision to do hajj under the circumstances; I’m sure mine is a very, very minority opinion, and that’s just what it is. However, as far as I know, the hajj as such did not take place while the kabaa was still full of idols and controlled by the Meccan tribes.

I’m not really religiously Muslim anymore, it’s more like a simple lifestyle to me now, sort of the way the mountain nomads in China follow Buddhadharma and/or Tao but have no connection to the religious establishment, which they see as corrupt (and it seems to be, from what I saw there). So to some extent, I would be out of whack with anyone who controlled the two shrines, but it’s all a matter of degree. As much as I dislike the rulers of Iran, for example, I think they would administrate the system more fairly, if only slightly. If say, a bunch of Naqshbandis ran the show (I know, I know, likely idea), while there might be problems I can’t imagine them attacking people for owning musical instruments and turba.  Right now, to me, doing hajj pays into Saudi coffers, cements their control over the Muslim world, and I would feel like I was legitemizing their rulership and oppression if I went. I can respect differences of opinion, and could maybe even be convinced otherwise, but that it is how I feel.

DA: I wouldn’t gainsay your decision not to make Hajj- I just wonder, with folk like yourself, who want to steer clear of KSA corruption (quite understandably), and the folk who grin and bear it, who the heck is making Hajj with a clear conscience, and what drugs are they on? Seriously, I’m wondering if there isn’t some way to try to detach ourselves from KSA control and money. Raise money for mosques right here, start printing translations of the Qur’an and other significant Islamic texts that aren’t "edited" by tools of the KSA, and start driving hybrids, or taking the subway. For Hajj, there’s no way to avoid the KSA, but we can avoid sucking at the Saudi teat otherwise.
DA, in short, it’s a danged shame that we need to be having this conversation about the Sacred Precincts, and that should be an alarm.

Just a thought: any chance of getting Saudis in on helping to change this, without them suddenly getting job offers for places that are very, very far away the day after they get "downsized"? KSA tends to do stuff like that.