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Saudi cleric: Swine flu not obstacle to hajj
? AP
2009-06-18 21:42:04 -
RIYADH
, Saudi Arabia (AP) - An influential Saudi cleric voiced his opposition Thursday to any travel bans for the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage because of the scare over the swine flu pandemic.
Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obaikan, an adviser to the Saudi royal family and a member of the Consultative Council appointed by the king, was quoted by the Okaz daily as saying that Islam does not condone travel bans.
?It is not proper to ban people from the hajj,? said al-Obaikan. He also said travel to and from countries with reported cases of swine flu should not be impaired.
While no official in the Middle East has proposed banning Muslims from traveling for the hajj, al-Obakian's remarks appear to be a reaction to a recent stark warning from Egypt.
Egypt's health minister, Hatem al-Gabali, warned his countrymen last month they could face a quarantine upon their return from the hajj.
The Egyptian minister also said he could ?set up other measures? to ensure pilgrims do not infect others in Egypt, where the population numbers about 80 million people.
El-Gabali said the sheer volume of people participating in the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia makes it a possibility that swine flu cases will be transmitted on a wide scale.
The hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, draws about 3 million people every year to Saudi Arabia, which accrues billions of dollars yearly from the pilgrimage.
It is expected to be held around the beginning of December. Tens of thousands of Egyptians perform the hajj every year.
Egypt, which has reported 30 cases of swine flu so far, has also ordered the slaughter of the country's roughly 300,000 pigs as a preventive measure. The move has elicited widespread criticism from international animal rights groups and was described as unnecessary by the World Health Organization.
The Egyptian concern over the hajj has drawn mixed reaction from top clerics in the Muslim world. Saudi's Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, has said the concerns over exposure to swine flu at the hajj were ?exaggerated.
Saudi Arabia this week said the number of swine flu cases in the kingdom rose to 29.
Saudi cleric: Swine flu not obstacle to hajj
? AP
2009-06-18 21:42:04 -
RIYADH
, Saudi Arabia (AP) - An influential Saudi cleric voiced his opposition Thursday to any travel bans for the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage because of the scare over the swine flu pandemic.
Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obaikan, an adviser to the Saudi royal family and a member of the Consultative Council appointed by the king, was quoted by the Okaz daily as saying that Islam does not condone travel bans.
?It is not proper to ban people from the hajj,? said al-Obaikan. He also said travel to and from countries with reported cases of swine flu should not be impaired.
While no official in the Middle East has proposed banning Muslims from traveling for the hajj, al-Obakian's remarks appear to be a reaction to a recent stark warning from Egypt.
Egypt's health minister, Hatem al-Gabali, warned his countrymen last month they could face a quarantine upon their return from the hajj.
The Egyptian minister also said he could ?set up other measures? to ensure pilgrims do not infect others in Egypt, where the population numbers about 80 million people.
El-Gabali said the sheer volume of people participating in the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia makes it a possibility that swine flu cases will be transmitted on a wide scale.
The hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, draws about 3 million people every year to Saudi Arabia, which accrues billions of dollars yearly from the pilgrimage.
It is expected to be held around the beginning of December. Tens of thousands of Egyptians perform the hajj every year.
Egypt, which has reported 30 cases of swine flu so far, has also ordered the slaughter of the country's roughly 300,000 pigs as a preventive measure. The move has elicited widespread criticism from international animal rights groups and was described as unnecessary by the World Health Organization.
The Egyptian concern over the hajj has drawn mixed reaction from top clerics in the Muslim world. Saudi's Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, has said the concerns over exposure to swine flu at the hajj were ?exaggerated.
Saudi Arabia this week said the number of swine flu cases in the kingdom rose to 29.