Hajji Now

Arnoud Van Doorn in Mekkah on Hajj

After converting to Islam some months ago, Arnoud Van Doorn has just performed the Hajj. He may therefore now be known as Hajji Arnoud. Hajji is the name given to a man who has performed the Hajj. He has now found himself “among these faithful hearts”. He hope his tears of regret will wash out all his sins after his repentance,” he said as his tears flowed. Fitna Producer Performs Hajj »

KHALEEJ TIMES: Arnoud to produce pro-Islam film »

‘Fitna’ Producer Finds Peace in the Holy Sites

Arnoud Van Doorn talks to Okaz/SG reporter in Mina

SAUDI GAZETTE: MINA — A once strident anti-Islam activist who gained notoriety as the producer of Fitna, a derogatory film wrongly portraying Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), has found peace and tranquility while performing Haj this year.


 Arnoud Van Doorn, a former member of the Geert Wilders racist Dutch Party for Freedom, reverted to Islam a year ago after propagating against the divine religion for years.

Van Doorn bitterly regrets having taken part in the production of the hateful film Fitna (Sedition) and said he was in the holy sites to atone for his sins.

“I found myself among these faithful hearts. I hope that my tears of regret will wash out all my sins after my repentance,” Van Doorn said.

He said, as a token of atonement, he will produce a new film that will show the true essence of Islam and the correct personality of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Van Doorn described Fitna as a totally wrong movie which contained a lot of misleading and incorrect information that had nothing to do with the noble divine religion or its great Prophet (pbuh).

He said that since his arrival in this holy land, he has been living the best days of his life and he hoped that he could spend more time in Madinah to which he was determined to return after the completion of his Haj rites.

“I felt ashamed standing in front of the Prophet’s grave. I thought of the grave mistake which I had made by producing that sacrilegious film. I hope that Allah will forgive me and accept my repentance,” he said.

Van Doorn said he read a lot about Islam and regretted his erstwhile hostility to this great religion. [Source: Saudi Gazette] | Hamza Mohammed | Okaz/Saudi Gazette

Hajj Pilgrims Gather on Mount Arafat
Millions of pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat for the annual Hajj, including groups from Syria, who call for an end to the Assad regime in their country.

Millions of Muslims Gather in the Saudi City of Mecca to Perform the Hajj

To the gallery »

Hajj Pilgrims Offer Prayers for Muslim Unity

FOX NEWS: MECCA, Saudi Arabia – Millions of Muslim pilgrims converged Wednesday on the holy city of Mecca in preparation for the hajj pilgrimage, many of them praying for unity in the Islamic world at a time of turmoil.

Some of the estimated 3.4 million faithful attending this year's pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia circled the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine located in the grand mosque at Mecca's heart. Others headed to the rocky desert hill of Mount Arafat to spend the night before a day of prayer and contemplation that marks the start of the hajj.

Muslims believe the rituals, which begin Thursday and end Monday, trace the footsteps of the prophets Abraham, Ishmael and Muhammad.

Many say the experience of worshipping alongside hundreds of thousands of the faithful makes them feel as though Islam transcends the political and sectarian conflicts dividing the Muslim world.

Standing shoulder to shoulder in prayer, the pilgrims say that this year, more than ever, they are praying for unity among the Umma, an Arabic word related to "mother" and which refers to the global Islamic community. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Giant Mecca Clock Seeks to Call Time on Greenwich
THE TELEGRAPH: For more than a century, a point on the top of a hill in south-east London has been recognised as the centre of world time and the official starting point of each new day.

Big Ben (L) and the Mecca Clock Tower (R) are now in competition to be recognised as the centre of time. Photo: The Telegraph
But now the supremacy of Greenwich Mean Time is being challenged by a gargantuan new clock being built in Mecca, by which the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims could soon be setting their watches.

Due to start ticking on Thursday as the faithful begin fasting during the month of Ramadan, the timepiece sits atop the Royal Mecca Clock Tower which dominates Islam’s holiest city.

It is at the heart of a vast complex funded by the Saudi government that will also house hotels, shopping malls and conference halls.

Bearing a striking resemblance to both St Stephen’s Tower, which houses the bell of Big Ben, and the Empire State Building, the Saudi upstart aims to outdo its revered British rival in every way.

The clock’s four faces are 151ft in diameter and will be illuminated by 2million LED lights along with huge Arabic script reading: “In the name of Allah”. The clock will run on Arabia Standard Time which is three hours ahead of GMT.

When a glittering spire is added, topped with a crescent to symbolise Islam, the edifice will stand at nearly 2,000 ft, making it the world's second tallest building.

The clock of Big Ben, by comparison, is just 23ft in diameter, while its tower stands at a mere 316ft.

Residents of Mecca will also be reminded that it is time to pray when 21,000 green and white lights, visible at a distance of 18 miles, flash five times a day.

But Islamic scholars hope the clock’s influence will stretch far further than the sands of Saudi Arabia, as part of a plan for Mecca to eclipse the Greenwich Observatory as the “true centre of the earth”. >>> Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent, and Martin Beckford | Wednesday, August 11, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Mecca clock: Greenwich Mean Time only recently synchronised world’s watches – Throughout the vast majority of human history, the time was calculated locally according to the rising and setting of the sun. >>> Martin Beckford | Wednesday, August 11, 2010


MAIL ONLINE asks whether we’ll soon be setting our clocks to Mecca Mean Time! >>>

Related articles here and here

Make Makkah the Most Beautiful City: Prince Khaled
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal receives Pakistani Consul General Abdul Salik Khan at his office in Jeddah on Sunday. Photograph: Arab News
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has emphasized the need for preparing a well thought out and comprehensive development plan for Makkah to make it one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

“We’ll be responsible before God and coming generations if we do not work to make Makkah one of the most beautiful and modern cities in the world,” the governor told a meeting of top executives.

He said Saudi Arabia has the potentials to achieve this goal. “We have a strong and determined leadership that provides all-out support to this direction. We have also enough funds and good people who are capable of achieving this objective.” >>> Galal Fakkar | Sunday, August 08, 2010

Mecca to Outface Big Ben with World’s Largest Clock
THE SUNDAY TIMES: A new hotel in Mecca will be the world's second-tallest building and will feature the world's largest clock face

The Mecca Royal Clock Tower hotel will be the world's second-tallest building. Photo: The Sunday Times
The world’s largest clock will be the centrepiece of a giant hotel that will dominate the skyline of Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca when it opens this autumn.

The Mecca Royal Clock Tower hotel, an architectural amalgam of Big Ben and the Empire State Building, is part of a £3.3 billion complex which, at 1,939ft, will be the second tallest building in the world.

The four faces of the German-built clock, each 141ft high, will be visible from 10 miles away by day and more than seven miles at night.

It has been deliberately designed to dwarf London’s Big Ben, whose faces are 23ft high. Mohammed al-Arkubi, the hotel’s general manager said: “Putting Mecca time in the face of Greenwich mean time, this is the goal.”

The clock’s mechanism will be started in August before Ramadan and the opening of the seven-star, 800-room luxury hotel, which will cater for rich participants in the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

The complex, built on the site of an old Ottoman fort, consists of seven towers, two helipads and a shopping centre that will open next year. Three thousand rooms and suites will go on sale, with one-room studio flats starting at £430,000.

The building is capped by a spire topped with a golden crescent.

Many of the rooms directly overlook the Kaaba, the cube-shaped granite building covered in black silk towards which every Muslim turns in daily prayer. Continue reading and comment >>> Rosie Kinchen | Sunday, June 27, 2010

Council Spends £150,000 So Muslim Graves Can Face Mecca
THE TELEGRAPH: A council is spending £150,000 to extend a cemetery so that the graves of Muslims can face Mecca.

High Wycombe Cemetery in Buckinghamshire currently has a separate Muslim burial section but this is due to run out of space in 2012.

Muslim graves are required to face North [?] East, so that Mecca, the birth place of the Prophet Muhammad in the Sirat Mountains of Saudi Arabia, is on their right to the South East.

While graves could be placed in the existing plot with Christian graves, the different orientation would mean encroaching on areas currently maintained as lawn sections.

A report by High Wycombe District Council also expressed fears that mixing Muslim and Christian graves could lead to a backlash in public opinion.

The council put in a request for land at the Church of England burial ground at Priory Road, High Wycombe to be deconsecrated for Muslim use but this was refused.

The council have now settled on extending High Wycombe cemetery terracing to form new burial areas, walls, paths and steps for access at a cost of £150,000.

According to the Equalities Impact Assessment carried out, an extension would provide 15 years worth of Muslim burials[.]

One local resident, who did not wish to be named, said that enough money had been spent catering to the needs of the Muslim community.

He said: ''Yet again many thousands of pounds being spent pandering to the local Muslim community.

''Just like when they fenced off all of the Muslim graves in the local cemetery to protect them from vandalism yet left all of the other graves from other racial/religious groups left wide open to vandalism.'' >>> | Friday, June 04, 2010

Interfaith Summit Spreads Islam’s 'Message of Peace'
Where is the 'message of peace' to be found in Islam? It is not very helpful to make empty statements about Islam being a 'religion of peace', when clearly it is not. Please read this: Muhammad Announces the Sword as an Instrument of Faith - ©Mark

ARAB NEWS: MAKKAH — The international conference on interfaith dialogue that ended yesterday at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah called on all people, irrespective of their race, religion, culture or country, to come together to promote a culture of peace and tolerance.

The conference ended with the reading of the official statement by Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim World League (MWL), which organized the conference.

“The conference has been held at a time when the world faces countless challenges that threatens [sic] the very existence of mankind. The conference affirms that Islam has a solution to all these crises and it is calling upon all Muslims, jointly with other people, to find solutions to all issues,” the statement said.

The call to have Muslims and non-Muslims work together to solve problems afflicting the world came with a recommendation to set up a center for dialogue to be named the “King Abdullah International Center for Cultural Relations” as well as the establishment of the King Abdullah International Prize for Cultural Dialogue.

The statement also urged Muslims to work with other cultures, irrespective of their views, to come up with solutions.

“The discussions, held in several sessions, focused on the Islamic roots of dialogue, the methodology and rules of dialogue, with whom the dialogue should be made and the topics for dialogue,” Al-Zaid said, reading from the prepared statement.

The statement also stressed the need for people to unite in their efforts against the waste of natural resources and the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction.

In addition, the conference appealed to all people, regardless of their ideology, religion or ethnic background, to propagate noble values that would end the present moral degeneration. It also called for concerted action to eradicate corruption and alleviate poverty. Interfaith Summit Spreads Islam’s Message of Peace >>> By Badea Abu Al-Naja | June 7, 2008

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE:
King Opens Interfaith Dialogue that Aims to Bridge Gap between Islam and Other Religions >>> (Associated Press) | June 4, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

How Much More Bloody Nonsense Must We Read About? Now the Sick Have to Face Makkah!
DAILY MAIL: The job of the nurse used to [be] one of caring for the sick and needy.

But not - it would seem - in today's politically-correct Britain.

Now, nurses are being encouraged to spend valuable time turning around the beds of Muslim patients up to five times a day - so they can face Mecca.

In a bid to promote cultural understanding, they are also expected to provide patients with running water so they can wash before prayer.

And then, of course, they are required to turn the beds back around to return the wards to normality. The measures are being pursued by Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust to ensure Muslim patients have a "more comfortable stay in hospital".

Hundreds of staff have attended tax-payer-funded workshops with Muslim GPs and ethnic-minority support groups on how best to help patients.

During these meetings, nurses have been told that if a patient asks for water to bathe in, or for their bed to be turned to face Mecca, then this should be considered.

If the measure is deemed "practically possible" and does not impinge on other patients, then it should be carried out.

And if it is not practical, nurses are encouraged to find them a bed that faces Mecca permanently. Hospital staff told to make sure Muslim patients' beds face Mecca five times a day >>> By Gwyneth Rees

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