Stampede at haj kills 244, Saudi official says

[maddezmom]

Stampede at haj kills 244, Saudi official says

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) _ A stampede during a stoning ritual at the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca killed 244 worshippers, a Saudi Haj Ministry official said Sunday.

A similar number of pilgrims was also wounded during the stampede, which lasted almost four and a half hours, Haj Minister Iyad Madani told reporters at a press conference in Mina
~snip~

more: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/2/1/latest/15783Stampedea&sec=latest

[saigon68]

1. Sounds Like FUN-----</NOT>

Last year, 14 pilgrims were trampled to death during the same stoning event.

In 2001, 35 people died in a stampede during the devil stoning ritual, while in 1998, some 180 died.

In the worst haj-related disaster, 1,426 people died in 1990 during a stampede in a tunnel leading to Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest shrine.

The devil stoning is the haj's most animated ritual and possibly most dangerous as many pilgrims frantically throw rocks, shout insults or hurl flip-flops or shoes at the pillars _ acts that are supposed to demonstrate their deep disdain for the devil. Clerics frown upon such action and say it's un-Islamic

[Name removed]

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[wunnerfulrobin]

12. HUH?

What the heck does the french heat wave have to do with stoning people to death? What, the French made it get hot? What a joke.

[Flagg]

15. .....

you know who you are

[Jacobin]

6. Or, if your daughter is rebellious, according to the bible,

you can sell her into slavery.


:-)

we are so much more enlightened

[hang a left]

8. Christrian Fundamentalism---the correct religion!

Sarcasm now off for a minute.


Had to edit for clarity.

[manchu]

11. uhh no

Thats a cultural practice which is nowhere in the Quran. Hajj is a tremendous event in a Muslims life and is to be attended at least once by able bodied Muslims. It is a tragedy that so many died the Islamic holiday of Eid ul Adha. Best wishes to the families on what is supposed to be a revered holiday. Did you happen to scroll down the rest of the article and read where the Sheik condemned terrorists? The killing of Muslims and non muslims whom have been granted sanctuary? Nah we Muslims just want to kill everybody (sarcasm off)

[pinniped]

3. Well BULLshyt is the devil so I can see why they were in such a rush.

n/t

[GCP]

5. Sigh - I feel sorry for the families of the ones who were killed

But I am getting so sick of fundamentalism of whatever stripe.
The world is truly going nuts and fundamentalists, whether Islamic, Christian, Jewish or Hindu, are a big part of the problem.

[Mari333]

7. The ORIGINAL reason people went to Mecca

This one makes more sense...the one thats done now is after the MEN took over the ceremony..and the religion went into patriarchal chaos which we see now ......


There were, in pagan times, seven priestesses at site of the Black Stone, who circled it seven times, naked. Today, the tawaf, the sevenfold counterclockwise circuit of the Ka'bah, is a memory of that ancient practice. But the older practice is itself a strong echo of the descent of the Sumerian goddess Inanna (and her Babylonian equivalent Ishtar) through the seven gates of the underworld, the gatekeepers demanding the removal of a garment at each gate until she stands naked before her elder sister Ereshkigal, 'Queen of the Great Earth', the goddess of death and the underworld. Another name for Ereshkigal is Allatu, 'the goddess', which is clearly an earlier form of Al'Lat/Alilat.




http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/blston2.htm

[hang a left]

10. Thanks alot for the line to that site Mari.

What an interesting article. I have recently become very interested in Sumer.

[Mari333]

13. Its not hard to connect the dots to see

why women are covered up in fundamentalist society nowadays..
I read once where, during ancient times, when women were considered sacred in the Middle East and the concept of the goddess mythology was paramount, that women wore ankle bells which are now forbidden in that society
You better believe I went out and bought some ankle bells that week.
I cant even begin to imagine some theocratic institution of men telling me what to do. I would be dead now, because Id go down shooting them if they tried.

[Muddleoftheroad]

9. This is horrible

The Haj is an immensely important event. To travel all that way to celebrate your religion and only end up dying horribly must be quite hard on the families.

[saigon68]

14. Kick

[Catherine Vincent]

16. This is so sad.

This seem to happen quite often over there.