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Millions of Muslims ask forgiveness at haj climax
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by sheshank | December 7, 2008 at 07:06 am
332 views | 1 Recommendation | 9 comments
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we humans are really very confused creature,we do thousands of mistake in our life time and at the end we ask for forgiveness from non other than our own creation "that is god".We are great escapist why we need thousands of miles of torturous journey to ask forgiveness,we are not even honest in asking for forgiveness.All we need is vision to look beyond self and act honestly.
More than two million Muslim pilgrims gathered around a mountain east of Mecca on Sunday at the peak of the haj to beg God's forgiveness, chanting "O God, I am answering your call!."
Pilgrims trickling to the area where they will pray until sunset set up thousands of tents in a vast plain.
"Being here is better than anything I had ever experienced ... better than the time I saw my children for the first time," said Rawya Mohammad, a secretary from Egypt.
Rawya was one of many who arrived before dawn, some on foot, others on buses and thousands on top of any vehicle they could find.
"I feel privileged. I am one in a million Muslims with the honor of performing pilgrimage this year. This is a reward," said Omar Salah, a 38-year-old engineer from Egypt.
The haj retraces the path of Islam's Prophet Mohammad 14 centuries ago after he removed pagan idols from Mecca, his birthplace, years after he started calling people to the new faith, now embraced by almost 1.7 billion people worldwide.
At Arafat, Muslims pray for forgiveness and for their own and fellow Muslims' welfare.
The pilgrims will later move under the night sky to Muzdalifa to collect pebbles to stone a set of walls symbolizing the devil.
"It will be sudden, at one moment everyone is sitting or standing then the sun starts to go down and they all will move in the same direction," said a prayer leader.
Some pilgrims said they would also pray for an end to the global financial crisis.
"The economic crisis is on the mind of most pilgrims. They are going to pray to God to alleviate the problem ... It's an unexpected crisis and the only solution is mercy from heaven," said Mohammad Fateh, who works for a brokerage in Egypt.
"The Arab and Muslim worlds are going to be affected by this crisis. I'll pray to God to lift this scourge," he said, adding that colleagues and investors had asked him to offer prayers on their behalf.
Despite a ban on political activities at haj, a senior Iranian cleric gave a speech at Arafat to a group of pilgrims, who chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," Iran's state television showed.
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sheshank
delhi, India
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at 09:15 on December 7th, 2008
Oh Allah never forgive these terrorists.
at 09:19 on December 7th, 2008
I would say there is no God, no Allah, no Manitu, nor any spirit or angel that can, could or would even conceder forgiving those that Kill and terrorize People...
at 09:33 on December 7th, 2008
I have been there, at the greatest gathering of devotees ever , there is nothing compared to it in this world. Praying for fogiveness for themselves and the wellbeing and freedom of all mankind... May the Allmighty Creator accept all thier prayers...
at 12:25 on December 8th, 2008
For such spiritual people, maybe they would realize their problems might be caused by a failure to SHUT-UP those who chant "Death to America & Israel!"
I want to see what would happen if a group of people at the Vatican shouted "Death to Iran & Israel!" They would likely be ex-communicated & jailed, but that wouldn't happen because Jesus never called for the death of anyone, unlike Mohamed.
at 02:35 on December 19th, 2008
Who said Mohamed(pbuh) calls for the death of people ?
at 06:04 on December 9th, 2008
Perhaps you could tell us who mohammed called for the death of! In the Bible Moses says that one day a messenger like him will come, moses had to leave Egypt as a young man as a result of killing a man in self defence. Moses also married and had a family just like mohammed. Jesus the messia is a wonderful messenger but not the one spoken of by moses. Mohammed also spent 40 days in the presence of God just like moses that came before him, with the same message as is always the case. God doesnt change the rules only clarifies them. Have you ever noticed that muslims dont join in the insults to the messengers? Some people really need to catch up on their learning peace be upon all of Gods messengers, all 250,000 of them. All people of all time have had a messenger sent to them. Islam teaches that mohammed was the last and that jesus will return, peace be upon them both
at 17:31 on December 9th, 2008
i'm not sure if you've read the Quran. it contains a lot of violence comparable to the Old Testament of the Bible, if not worse in many parts. the New Testament fulfills the Old with Jesus, which is what most Christians mainly follow, with the Old Testament being a simple reference. even Moses and the 10 commandments are only referenced by Jesus, who goes further than them.
i could give quotes, but the 3 books are easily available to find & read. objectively speaking as a former student who studied religion anthropologically, Christianity (if followed as Jesus wanted) is more peaceful than Judaism or Islam (if followed as the prophets wanted). To be fair, i'll mention that Jainism is (objectively) the most peaceful religion, so as not to sound at all biased.
at 02:45 on December 10th, 2008
If people are too peaceful it leads to decadence and then a reversal of peace into war, Islam, when followed correctly, leads to a sustainable ballance. I dont agree with terrorism but sometimes you have to fight for peace. Self defence for example is permitted in the Bible, (Moses killed in self defence)
at 02:37 on December 19th, 2008
Nice remark !!