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As we all know, Obama's grandmother was supposedly a Christian woman, or so he told us during the US elections. Obama also claimed he is a Christian, but for now we can probably confirm that Obama's grandmother is not a Christian, unless she went to Mecca during Hajj for other reasons, which we also doubt. On November 25, Obama's grandmother arrived in Saudi Arabia for none other than Hajj, the muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, which all Muslims are required to make if they can in their lifetime. Sarah Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia for Hajj on the 25th of November....

In his new film "2012", director Roland Emmerich reinforces a double standard by depicting the destruction of numerous Christian landmarks while sparing Islamic ones. The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican all meet untimely fates in Emmerich's latest end-of-the-world extravangza. However, The Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure that is the focus of prayers and the site of the most important pilgrimage in Islam, was spared. And this double standard was not, it turns out, an oversight or mistake. A deliberate act In an interview with Sci-Fi...

President Obama continued his outreach to the world's Muslims today, sending greetings to pilgrims to Mecca. .... "Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions," Obama said in a statement. "During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand...

The heaviest rain to hit Islam's annual hajj pilgrimage in years soaked the faithful and flooded the road to Mecca, snarling traffic as millions of Muslims headed for the holy sites. The downpours add an extra hazard on top of intense concerns about the spread of swine flu. Pilgrims in white robes holding umbrellas, some wearing face masks for fear of the flu, circled the black cube-shaped Kaaba in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, the opening rite for the hajj. But the shrine — Islam's holiest site — and the nearby rain-soaked streets did not see the usual massive,...

Mecca, 25 Nov. (AKI) - The grandmother of US president Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the 'Hajj' or Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a Saudi daily said on Wednesday. Sarah Obama, 87, is being accompanied by a nephew and Obama's cousin, Omran. On Wednesday Sarah Obama was in the valley of Mina with an African delegation, according to the Saudi daily Okaz. Obama, the mother of the American president's father, lives in a village in Kenya and is one of the many guests of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud....

Where can you spend almost $US150,000 per square metre on a piece of land? Not the Champs-Elysees in Paris, or Broadway or New York. But Mecca! This film shows the transformation of the holiest place in the Islamic world into a real estate business for religious tourism … More than 3-million Muslims from around the world now attend the world’s largest pilgrimage, the Hajj. Following the pilgrims’ journey, this film features a rare interview with the Bin Laden Group behind much of the monumental development of Mecca, potentially Saudi Arabia’s new ‘gold’.

Revenge of the Pigs Fears for the Hajj Raised thelastcrusade.org. Pigs may get their revenge against Islam.They have been classified as filth (najasa) by shariah (Muslim) law.A Muslim must purify himself of anything made impure by contact with a pig.Swine are considered as vile and disgusting as “non-Muslims at war with Muslims, apostates from Islam, convicted married adulterers, and biting dogs.”Yet more Muslims are likely to die of swine flu this year than the adherrents of any other religion.The mass Islamic infection of the H1N1 virus is expected to occur during the five day hajj that will take place...

BEIJING — China will give swine flu vaccinations to thousands of Muslims about to make the annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, state media said, as authorities reported the mainland's third death from the illness. Concerns over the hajj, which attracts about 3 million Muslims every year to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, have led several countries to impose travel bans over fears the mass gathering could speed the spread of swine flu. Arab health ministers in July banned children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses from attending this year. All of China's 12,700 Muslims making the pilgrimage...

Burned by the resulting firestorm of protest, the (National) Park Service agreed to get rid of Islamic symbol shapes in the Flight 93 Memorial, but they never did. They added an extra arc of trees, and they call it a broken circle now, but the unbroken part of the circle, what symbolically remains standing in the wake of 9/11, is still a giant Islamic shaped crescent.

House ethics officials have called for disclosure of costs associated with Minnesota Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison's religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last year. Originally, Ellison – who is the United States' first Muslim congressman – opted not to announce the cost of the trip, which had a price tag of $13,350. More disturbing than Ellison's lack of transparency is the fact that The Star-Tribune (Minn.) said the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS) paid the $13,350 bill for Ellison’s two-week visit to Mecca. Americans have great cause for concern. The Chicago Tribune said the MAS, despite calling itself an "independent...

The global financial crisis has affected the registration of Muslims wishing to travel to Mecca, Saud Arabia, for the annual pilgrimage, the National Hajj Mission has confirmed. According to the Hajj Mission of the Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata), at least 2,500 Muslims would have been allowed to visit the Arabian Gulf nation for the annual pilgrimage this year, but the allocated figure for Tanzania could not be reached due to economic downturn shocks. Speaking to The Citizen over the phone from Zanzibar yesterday, the acting chairman of the Tanzania Hajj Mission, Sheikh Khalid Mohamed, travel agents are worried that...

Swine flu, economic downturn overshadow Ramadan by Paul Handley 1 hr 57 mins ago RIYADH (AFP) – Muslims entered the fasting and feasting month of Ramadan on Saturday with swine flu and the economic downturn adding to the security fears that plague several Islamic countries in dampening the mood. The threat from the A(H1N1) virus prompted a string of governments to bar their citizens from making the pilgrimage to the holy places in Saudi Arabia traditionally made by many Muslims during Ramadan, while financial worries forced many families to cut back on their holiday spending. In the Saudi cities of...

Saudi Arabia may bar Haj pilgrims below six years and above 65 years due to swine flu fears, a media report said Wednesday. Jeddah was yet to convey its decision to the governments across the globe that coordinate the Haj by their Muslim citizens every year, New Age newspaper said. In Bangladesh’s case, the number of pilgrims this year may be slashed by half. “We don’t have any specific information about how many pilgrims will not able to go for Haj if the ban (is) imposed, but the number can come down to half,” said Shahjahan Mia, Bangladesh’s state minister...

The Health Ministry announced Egypt's first swine flu fatality on 19 July. The victim was identified as 28-year-old Samah El-Sayed Salima, recently returned from Saudi Arabia after the omra. Her death came after the Health Ministry had repeatedly advised pilgrims to cancel omra trips. El-Sayed began suffering flu-like symptoms in Mecca. She also had an underlying heart condition. Egypt's first cases of swine flu were confirmed in June among people travelling from the US. Soon cases were being reported among passengers coming from Western countries and from Saudi Arabia after performing omra rituals. The Ministry of Health began to call...

(CNN) -- Two Hajj pilgrims from Iran have contracted the H1N1 virus, according to reports from the country's official news agency. December 2008: A Saudi policeman directs pilgrims at Mount Arafat, southeast of holy city of Mecca. Iran's official Fars news agency Wednesday reported that a 57-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man who had recently returned from a pilgrimage tested positive for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. This brings Iran's tally to three cases. Every year about two million Muslims go on pilgrimage to Mecca -- the holiest place in Islam. As well as the annual Hajj...

Swine flu fears and the global economic crisis are taking their toll on bookings at hotels in the city of Mecca, two months before the start of a minor pilgrimage that attracts up to two million Muslim pilgrims. Umra can be performed any time of the year but most prefer to do it during the last 10 days of the fasting month of Ramadan, which will be around September 10 to 20 this year. The haj season, which falls in November this year, attracts some three million pilgrims. At Ajyad Hotel, favoured for its proximity to the Grand Mosque and...

In 2007, Flight 93 Advisory Commission member Tim Baird told me that everyone at the meetings he attended is fully aware that the giant crescent, originally named the Crescent of Embrace, really does point almost exactly at Mecca. Professor Baird says they all just assume (himself included) that the Mecca orientation must be an innocent coincidence. Pretty crazy, when they have also been told the meaning of a crescent that Muslims face into to face Mecca. Every mosque is built around a Mecca-direction indicator called a mihrab, and the classic mihrab is crescent shaped. Geometrically, the Crescent of Embrace...

Last fall, two years after becoming the first Muslim member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison received an intriguing offer from an organization based in Inver Grove Heights -- a free pilgrimage to Mecca. After clearing it with the House Ethics Committee, the Minneapolis Democrat packed his bags for Saudi Arabia. The 16-day trip, including food and lodging, was on the dime of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, where an imam is an acquaintance of Ellison's. Though members of Congress are required to disclose the details of just about any gift they receive, Ellison's office has declined to make...

I noted earlier tonight that all American taxpayers are paying for the Uighurs' indefinite vacation in Bermuda, but that is very much the exception to the rule. Most of us never find anyone willing to pay for our vacations. If you're a Congressman, though, that rule doesn't necessarily apply.We've written several times about Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison's hajj to Mecca, most recently here. A spokesman for Ellison, the first Muslim Congressman, first claimed that he paid for the pilgrimage himself. Later it was reported that the Muslim American Society paid for the trip, which MAS spokesman Mahdi Bray heatedly denied,...

The federal government issued an ultimatum yesterday to people who own land designated for the Flight 93 memorial in Western Pennsylvania: They have one week to reach an agreement on the sale of their land or the government will initiate proceedings to seize it.

Special Dispatch - No. 2355 May 13, 2009 No. 2355 "First Black Saudi Appointed Imam of Haram Mosque in Mecca Accuses Shi'ites of Apostasy and Discusses Driving Jews and Christians Out of Arabian Peninsula; Claims His Appointment 'More Significant' than Obama's Election" SNIPPET: "Following are excerpts from interviews with Sheikhh Adel Al-Kalbani, imam of the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, which aired on BBC Arabic on May 5, 2009 and Al-Arabiya TV on February 27, 2009. BBC Arabic, May 5, 3009: To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2102.htm "

THE mountain is to move for Muhammad. Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid are involved in plans to transform the landscape around Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, to make way for a high-rise metropolis complete with high-speed rail link for pilgrims. Architectural designs being considered by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia could see the mosque at the heart of the city expanded fivefold to hold 5m worshippers in one go. However, much of the land around the historic site, including ancient mountains, is likely to be flattened to accommodate seven-star hotels and towering blocks of luxury flats. Critics believe the 20-year redevelopment...

TWO years ago, Sheik Adil Kalbani dreamed that he had become an imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. Waking up, he dismissed the dream as a temptation to vanity. Although he is known for his fine voice, Sheik Adil is black, and the son of a poor immigrant from the Persian Gulf. Leading prayers at the Grand Mosque is an extraordinary honor, usually reserved for pure-blooded Arabs from the Saudi heartland. So he was taken aback when the phone rang last September and a voice told him that King Abdullah had chosen him as the first...

Some 200 mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way for prayers, reports from Saudi Arabia say. All mosques have a niche showing the direction of the most sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba, an ancient cube-like building in Mecca's Grand Mosque. But people looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba. Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers.

The official explanation for the Crescent of Embrace design is that the path of Flight 93 breaks the circle, turning it into the giant crescent. They call it the Circle of Embrace now, but the Memorial Project’s own website acknowledges that the circle is still broken: In summary, the memorial is shaped in a circular fashion, and the circle is symbolically "broken" or missing trees in two places, depicting the flight path of the plane, and the crash site... The fact that the Circle of Embrace is really a broken circle means two things. First, it means that the giant...

China has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to build a new railway system linking the main sites of the annual Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj. ... Saudi Arabia also plans to build a high-speed rail link to take pilgrims from Mecca to Medina, Islam's two holiest cities, in 30 minutes. ... The new network in Saudi Arabia is expected to be ready within three years, with one section of the line due to be completed in time for the 2010 Hajj, officials said. The contract, worth almost $1.8bn (£1.24bn), was awarded to the China Railway Company and a French firm.

(I'reading a fascinating book calledThe Siege of Mecca by Yaroslav Trofimov. I came across of section I thought Freepers might find interesting. It has to do with the Muslim concept of the "End of Days" and part played in it by Jesus Christ. It is from Chapter 5, pp. 47-48. (P.S. I having to type this in, so please forgive by hunt-and-peck fingers. Hopefully there's not too many typos.) ================================================= "The idea of a Mahdi has fuel Muslim imagination for centuries. There is no mention of it in the Quran itself . But the Phophet Mohammed, according to some nattators,...

CNN correspondent Zain Verjee, in a report posted on CNN.com on January 17, likened the expected large crowds for the inauguration of Barack Obama to the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca: “The coming political pilgrimage to Washington is similar to another grand event in both size and preparation -- the Hajj, the most important religious pilgrimage in the Muslim world.” Verjee has personal experience of the Hajj, as she belongs to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam. She filed a web log for CNN of her experience on the pilgrimage in 2005. During her report, she emphasized how...

Note: Video included. CNN Report Actually Compares Upcoming Inauguration to Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca - Video 1/16/09 Just when you think you have heard everything from the liberal media, they best their own record for ludicrous reporting. Here is a CNN report that actually compares the upcoming Presidential Inauguration to the Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca! I kid you not!

Just when you think you have heard everything from the liberal media, they best their own record for ludicrous reporting. Here is a CNN report that actually compares the upcoming Presidential Inauguration to the Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca! I kid you not! The report never mentions Obama by name, but we did not see any comparisons between President Bush's Inauguration and the Hajj to Mecca. For the mainstream media, who take such pride in helping to get Barack Obama elected with their incredibly biased reporting, perhaps the inauguration of Barack Obama is a religious event, as they put their...

Back home, he's one of the 535 most powerful lawmakers in America, but last week, on the holiest week in Islam's holiest city, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison was just one among the estimated 3 million travelers making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Ellison, D-Minn., and the first Muslim elected to Congress, also became the first sitting member to make the hajj, the journey that all able-bodied Muslims are obligated to make once in their lifetime. Ellison had been planning the weeklong pilgrimage since a trip to Saudi Arabia almost a year ago, said his spokesman, Rick Jauert, and hadn't expected the...

Alerted by Saudi and other intelligence agencies that al-Qaida planned to launch a bloody assault on Muslim pilgrims taking part in the annual pilgrimage - the Hajj - the Saudi government last week launched a huge counterterrorism operation, one of the largest in recent memory, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Over 3 million Muslims flocked to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage which retraces a route taken by the Prophet Mohammed 14 centuries ago. This year's event began Dec 6 under the nervous eye of Saudi security forces that included 20,000 ground forces, flights of combat helicopters and a large number...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, made the hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca last week, calling it a "transformative" experience. The Democrat from Minnesota's 5th Congressional District traveled to the Saudi Arabian city along with about 3 million people. The journey is a lifelong dream for many Muslims. "It was transformative. It was a wonderful experience," Ellison said in a telephone interview today. "I learned a lot about myself, about my faith."

Since CNN devoted so much time to covering the Hajj, a number of prominent Muslims -- including known terrorists and jihadists -- have opined that "We are defeating these people [American "evangelicals"] through their homes in their lands." "Terrorists gush over CNN coverage," by Aaron Klein for WorldNetDaily, December 12 (thanks to Doc Washburn): JERUSALEM – CNN's extensive coverage this week of the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is a defeat for evangelical Christians and proves it is only a question of time before Islam will be "shining all over the world," according to Muslim terrorists in Gaza speaking to...

<p>These astonishing images show a vast tent city housing thousands of Muslims in Saudi Arabia for the holy hajj pilgrimage....the Kabaa, Islam's holiest shrine....</p> <p>Later in the day, pilgrims enjoyed a feast of freshly slaughtered sheep, goats and camels at a huge tent city in Mina, a desert valley east of Islam's holiest city, Mecca, where the Kabaa resides....</p>

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s aides say he is considering making a major foreign policy speech from an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office.So where should he do it? The list of Islamic world capitals is long, and includes the obvious —Riyadh, Kuwait City, Islamabad — and the not-so-obvious — Male (the Maldives), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Some wise-guys have even suggested Dearborn, Mich., as a possibility. Clearly it would be cheating for Mr. Obama to fly to Detroit, talk to Dearborn’s 30,000 Arab residents and call it a day. And Male and Ouagadougou, while certainly...

MUMBAI: At first, waiter Joseph Joy Pulithara thought the blasts were rows of liquor bottles exploding for some reason behind the Mumbai hotel's sleek bar. Running to the scene, he found a woman screaming, and a young man spraying gunfire. The gunman was a member of a team that was well-armed, well-prepared and had just begun a two-day siege that would shut down India's financial and entertainment capital, leave more than 150 people dead and 370 injured, and turn the city's ritzy seaside district into a scene of horror.

LONDON (AP) -Olympic organizers issued detailed design rules for the 2012 London games Wednesday, including a mandate that at least some toilets in the Olympic park do not face the holy Islamic city of Mecca.

As the global war on terror approaches the start of its eighth year, the NYPD says it has never been more prepared - but also warns that the city can never let its guard down. In a two-part series, Daily News reporter Patrice O'Shaughnessy looks at the terror threat in New York - and around the world. Sunday's installment focuses on an NYPD undercover officer who dug deep into the potential terrorists in our midst. A young undercover city detective spent four years in the shadowy world of terrorist wanna-bes - taking part in jihadist discussions and training in parks...

New flats for elderly people have opened in Bristol - with toilets that do not face Mecca. The Muslim-friendly Very Sheltered Housing (VSH) scheme in Lincoln Street, Lawrence Hill, also includes beds that allow a tenant's feet to point in the right direction. Lincoln Gardens cost more than £6 million, has 55 bedrooms and was put up by the city council and the Guinness Trust on the site of the former Wainbrook elderly persons' home. It includes 19 flats suitable for "tenants from the Muslim community" following local consultation. A council spokesman said: "The toilets in these flats are orientated...

Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN) gave a House speech this month, supporting Mr. Burnett's opposition to the crescent design. The speech is entered in the Congressional Record here, along with supporting statements from Tom Burnett Sr. (father of murdered Flight 93 hero Tom Burnett Jr.). That makes two Congressmen now who have come out publicly against the crescent memorial. (Tom Tancredo took the lead last November, asking the Park Service to choose a completely new design.) News coverage revs up confrontation at this Saturday’s public meetingRamstad's speech, and our ongoing petition drive, netted a full width banner headline on the...

Last December, more than 2 million Muslims from around the world converged on Saudi Arabia to participate in the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca. The Hajjis spent a month performing religious rituals, mingling with Muslims from all walks of life, and, in some cases, taking part in communal chants of "Death to America" led by Islamic extremists. This was understandably unnerving to the 10,000 or so Americans who made the pilgrimage, not to mention those who didn't. Such behavior raised concerns that the Hajj is a breeding ground for anti-Western sentiment—or worse. Then again, the...

Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth. ...SNIP... The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim.br>

The journey to Mecca, formally known as the Hajj, is a dream for Muslims all over the world, who believe they should make the pilgrimage once during their lifetimes. Unfortunately, this dream is not always attainable -- so the Muslim Student Association decided to bring Mecca to Charlottesville.

An exhibition by Danish artists in Berlin has been closed because of threats received over a photo deemed to be offensive to Muslims, organizers said on Thursday. The exhibition, which opened in central Berlin on February 22, has been closed to ensure the safety of staff and visitors, Ralf Hartmann from the artists' collective Kunstverein Tiergarten said. The show by Danish art group Surrend is aimed at depicting what they say is the absurdity of extremism in all religions. One of the 21 photos is of the Kaaba – the cube-shaped building inside the Grande Mosque in Mecca – with...

Pilgrims pack Mecca ahead of annual haj By Jonathan Wright Fri Dec 14, 10:11 AM ET MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - About 1 million Muslim pilgrims from across the world packed the mosque and streets around the Kaaba shrine in the holy city of Mecca for the last Friday prayers before the annual haj pilgrimage. Pilgrims trekked to the mosque hours in advance to reserve a space for their prayer mats as close as possible to the Kaaba, a cubic stone structure which Muslims regard as the centre of an ancestral monotheistic cult established by the prophet Ibrahim, known to...

Excerpt - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday left Tehran for Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj, the first Iranian leader to take part in the annual Muslim pilgrimage in the history of the Islamic republic. An AFP photographer present at the airport reported that Ahmadinejad kissed the Koran and read verses from the holy Muslim book before departing. The website of state television said that Ahmadinejad's plane took off for the western Saudi city of Jeddah at around 08:30 am (0500 GMT). "On this journey, as well as carrying out the holy hajj pilgrimage, I will have meetings with officials,"...

Hospital chiefs make U-turn over NHS Muslim prayer bedsHospital chiefs who ordered nurses to turn around the beds of Muslim patients so they could face Mecca five times a day, have issued a climbdown. Hospital staff will now only be asked to perform the duty for the terminally ill. The measures were put in place by Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust to ensure Muslim patients have a "more comfortable stay in hospital". But nurses were obliged to break off from their health care duties to perform the ritual. The pilot scheme came after hundreds of staff attended tax-payer-funded workshops with Muslim...

MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 30, 2007 – A long-awaited passenger terminal project here that had lagged behind schedule now is complete. Less than three months after Mustafa Yoldah left his company’s office in Turkey and came to Mosul with a new foreman and extra workers, the project was finished. For the first time in 15 years, the Mosul, Iraq, airport is ready for commercial flights, beginning with the mid-December Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Photo by Alda Ottley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “He made it happen,” said Alda Ottley, project engineer for this facility. The terminal is...