Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Conference calls for legal commission
Nearly three million Muslims were heading yesterday from Makkah to the valley of Mina as the annual Haj pilgrimage got under way in Saudi Arabia amid heavy security.
- By Abdulnabi Shaheen, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 December 29, 2006
- Pilgrims outside the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Nearly three million Muslims are performing Haj in Saudi Arabia.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Makkah: Nearly three million Muslims were heading yesterday from Makkah to the valley of Mina as the annual Haj pilgrimage got under way in Saudi Arabia amid heavy security.
Draped in white robes, the pilgrims walked or boarded buses to Mina, five kilometres east of Makkah, to begin tracing the journey made by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) more than 1,400 years ago.
"Everything is proceeding according to plan," Saudi interior ministry spokesman General Mansour Al Turki said.
Al Turki said the final number of pilgrims would not be known until the Haj climaxes today, when the faithful move to Mount Arafat where they will spend the day praying and asking for God's forgiveness at the summit, in a symbolic waiting for the last judgment.
Meanwhile, the Makkah Seventh Conference concluded yesterday with a call to form a legal commission to support the Prophet.
In a final communiqué, the participants have adopted a package of recommendations of which foremost they also urged the formation of an international fund in support of the Prophet.
This recommendation also called for forming an advisors commission comprising experts in international law to sue whoever insults or defames Islam and its sanctuaries in countries where plaintiffs live or before international courts.
The participants also stressed the importance of founding an international Islamic fund to be assigned to enlightening international public about the universality of the Prophet's message besides confronting all the stereotyped anti-Islamic campaigns aiming to distort the image of Islam and ridiculing the Prophet of humanity in particular.
The conference also urged the Islamic countries to achieve a reasonable degree of economic integration to emerge as an economic bloc possessing power and having a say in the international political scene capable of defending primarily the Prophet, Islam and Muslim causes.
It is also meant to boost economic cooperation with moderate parties that don't attack Islam.
The participants made a special appeal to the ministries of education in Islamic countries to teach in their syllabuses the Prophet's Serra 'biography' in all educational stages to implant in the hearts of growing generations the Prophet's love.
The conference also called upon Ummah scholars and Islamic organisations to launch campaigns aimed at enlightening Muslims about their obligations toward the Prophet besides adhering to his teachings in word and deed.
They also suggested establishment of an international centre for translation and compilation to address non-Muslims through the different media tools on issues pertaining to the Holy Quran and Prophet's Sunnah.
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