PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Help me out here guys..............Mecca HEMS
Old 11th Oct 2009, 23:50
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Brian Abraham
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Sale, Australia
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Cherry picked from Wiki

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law.

The Saudi government supports their position using sura 9:28 from the Quran:

“O you who believe! the idolaters are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year; and if you fear poverty then Allah will enrich you out of His grace if He please; surely Allah is Knowing Wise.”[Qur'an 9:28]

The existence of cities closed to non-Muslims and the mystery of the Hajjs aroused intense curiosity in people from around the world. Some have disguised themselves as Muslims and entered the city of Mecca and then the Grand Mosque to experience the Hajj for themselves. The first to leave a record was Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503. The most famous account of a foreigner's journey to Mecca is A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton traveled as a Qadiriyyah Sufi from Afghanistan; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his frontispiece portrait for The Jew The Gypsy and El Islam was al-Hajj 'Abdullah. Individuals who use fake certificates of Muslim identity to enter may be arrested and prosecuted by Saudi authorities.


Thumbs up from this part of the world Geoffers for trying to give someone gainful employment.
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