Can Saudi Arabia solve the pilgrim challenge?
- By Jin Liangxiang
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 30, 2015
Next year might witness fewer pilgrims as a result of this year's tragedy. In the long run, however, the number will continue growing, as a result of the transportation growing more convenient and growing Muslim awareness of identity.
Learning lessons from this year, Saudi Arabia will certainly enhance safety measures. Beyond that, however, what else should be done?
About 130 victims of the stampede were Iranian nationals, and Iran might be the country that reacted most fiercely and angrily to the incident. Leaders from all sections of the government including Ali Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani, Ali Larijani, Sadeq Larijani, Javad Zarif and various Ayatollahs all condemned the Saudi government.
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani suggested on September 25 that management of the Haj pilgrimage should be delegated to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He said that Haj does not belong to Saudi Arabia alone, but all Islamic countries should be able to decide how it should be held.
It is true that Iran's reactions are both emotional and political. Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been competing for religious, political and economic influence in the Islamic world. However, the Iranians do have a point.
Mahfouz el-Taweel, an Egyptian survivor of the incident also said that Saudi Arabia should share responsibility for the Haj with a multinational force from some of the countries that send large numbers of pilgrims, such as Egypt.
There is also an argument that there should be strict allocation of quotas. One of the proposals is that there should be a quota of a thousand pilgrims for every million Muslims in a country, and that is worth considering.
There are estimated to be about 1,500 million Muslims in the world, so a quota system would restrict pilgrims to a more reasonable 1.5 million a year.
Saudi Arabia certainly has reasons to stick to its guardianship of the two holy cities. But coordination with OIC regarding pilgrim issues could both alleviate its own pressure and serve to make use of security resources of other Muslim countries.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/jinliangxiang.htm
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