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As we all know, Obama's grandmother was supposedly a Christian woman, or so he told us during the US elections. Obama also claimed he is a Christian, but for now we can probably confirm that Obama's grandmother is not a Christian, unless she went to Mecca during Hajj for other reasons, which we also doubt. On November 25, Obama's grandmother arrived in Saudi Arabia for none other than Hajj, the muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, which all Muslims are required to make if they can in their lifetime. Sarah Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia for Hajj on the 25th of November....

CNN: Jamarat is a re-enactment of an event when Prophet Abraham stoned the devil and rejected his temptations, according to Muslim traditions.

The Associated Press says that at least 100 have been killed by flash flooding in Saudi Arabia Wednesday that affected the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that is ongoing this week. Given these pictures uploaded this morning from AccuWeather.com Photo Gallery user addhna, I would think that death toll would continue to rise in this terrible tragedy; this article says that 350 are still missing.The Associated Press says: "The official says rescue teams were looking for possible survivors from the downpours that caused heavy flooding in the coastal city of Jiddah, the main entry point for the millions of Muslims performing...

It may be a gruelling and at-times dangerous journey for Muslim pilgrims, but Brisbane man Omar Saghir says the Hajj last year was the most amazing experience of his life. Millions of Muslim pilgrims have already risked floods and swine flu this year on the annual journey to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina. But the 28-year-old wants to make the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia again as soon as he can save up the money. "The experience for me, because I'm Australian-born and I've never really been outside of Australia, it was a very, very, very intriguing experience,"...

The 87-year-old Kenyan grandmother of President Obama – once described by the Associated Press as a "Christian" – is making the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, the Hajj, according to news reports. The annual Islamic tradition was noted by the president, who issued a special statement today as Sarah Obama was reported to be a guest of the Saudi Arabian king. "Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid al-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid al-Adha...

Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions. During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand in prayer on Mount Arafat. The following day, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha and distribute food to the less...

President Obama continued his outreach to the world's Muslims today, sending greetings to pilgrims to Mecca. .... "Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions," Obama said in a statement. "During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand...

1 hr 36 mins ago "The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world's major religions," read a White House statement. "On behalf of the American people, we would like to extend our greetings during this Hajj season -- Eid Mubarak," Obama said, using a traditional Muslim greeting.

Why the deception? And who was behind it? AP? The Obama camp? Someone else? What was its purpose? AP, March 5, 2008: "In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents," she said. She, too, is a Christian. --- Is she really? "Saudi Arabia: Obama's grandmother in Mecca for 'Hajj' ceremony," from AKI, November 25 (thanks to C. Cantoni): Mecca, 25 Nov. (AKI) - The grandmother of US president Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the 'Hajj' or Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a Saudi daily said on Wednesday. Sarah...

Mecca, 25 Nov. (AKI) - The grandmother of US president Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the 'Hajj' or Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a Saudi daily said on Wednesday. Sarah Obama, 87, is being accompanied by a nephew and Obama's cousin, Omran. On Wednesday Sarah Obama was in the valley of Mina with an African delegation, according to the Saudi daily Okaz. Obama, the mother of the American president's father, lives in a village in Kenya and is one of the many guests of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud....

Mecca, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- The Hajj, an obligatory pilgrimage for Muslims, began this year on Wednesday with two twists: thinner crowds and heavy rain. A rare rainstorm inundated pilgrims in the city of Mina, flooding tents and making conditions miserable for the 2.5 million pilgrims performing the ancient rituals, according to Isha Sesay, CNN's correspondent there. The tents, where pilgrims plan to spend the night in prayer and contemplation, were leaking and flooding, giving rise to fears of disease, Sesay reported.

President’s Muslim Roots Family Makes Thanksgiving Pilgrimage thelastcrusade.org The grandmother of President Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the 'Hajj' or Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a Saudi daily confirmed on Wednesday. Sarah Obama, 87, is being accompanied by a nephew and Obama's cousin, Omran.On Wednesday Sarah Obama was in the valley of Mina with an African delegation, according to the Saudi daily Okaz. Sarah Obama, the mother of the American president's father, lives in a village in Kenya and is one of the many guests of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin...

There's no word on whether or not the man who picked up the tab for her trip, aka the Donald Trump of Abu Dhabi, was with her entourage.

Where can you spend almost $US150,000 per square metre on a piece of land? Not the Champs-Elysees in Paris, or Broadway or New York. But Mecca! This film shows the transformation of the holiest place in the Islamic world into a real estate business for religious tourism … More than 3-million Muslims from around the world now attend the world’s largest pilgrimage, the Hajj. Following the pilgrims’ journey, this film features a rare interview with the Bin Laden Group behind much of the monumental development of Mecca, potentially Saudi Arabia’s new ‘gold’.

Revenge of the Pigs Fears for the Hajj Raised thelastcrusade.org. Pigs may get their revenge against Islam.They have been classified as filth (najasa) by shariah (Muslim) law.A Muslim must purify himself of anything made impure by contact with a pig.Swine are considered as vile and disgusting as “non-Muslims at war with Muslims, apostates from Islam, convicted married adulterers, and biting dogs.”Yet more Muslims are likely to die of swine flu this year than the adherrents of any other religion.The mass Islamic infection of the H1N1 virus is expected to occur during the five day hajj that will take place...

BEIJING — China will give swine flu vaccinations to thousands of Muslims about to make the annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, state media said, as authorities reported the mainland's third death from the illness. Concerns over the hajj, which attracts about 3 million Muslims every year to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, have led several countries to impose travel bans over fears the mass gathering could speed the spread of swine flu. Arab health ministers in July banned children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses from attending this year. All of China's 12,700 Muslims making the pilgrimage...

The global financial crisis has affected the registration of Muslims wishing to travel to Mecca, Saud Arabia, for the annual pilgrimage, the National Hajj Mission has confirmed. According to the Hajj Mission of the Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata), at least 2,500 Muslims would have been allowed to visit the Arabian Gulf nation for the annual pilgrimage this year, but the allocated figure for Tanzania could not be reached due to economic downturn shocks. Speaking to The Citizen over the phone from Zanzibar yesterday, the acting chairman of the Tanzania Hajj Mission, Sheikh Khalid Mohamed, travel agents are worried that...

Swine flu, economic downturn overshadow Ramadan by Paul Handley 1 hr 57 mins ago RIYADH (AFP) – Muslims entered the fasting and feasting month of Ramadan on Saturday with swine flu and the economic downturn adding to the security fears that plague several Islamic countries in dampening the mood. The threat from the A(H1N1) virus prompted a string of governments to bar their citizens from making the pilgrimage to the holy places in Saudi Arabia traditionally made by many Muslims during Ramadan, while financial worries forced many families to cut back on their holiday spending. In the Saudi cities of...

Saudi Arabia may bar Haj pilgrims below six years and above 65 years due to swine flu fears, a media report said Wednesday. Jeddah was yet to convey its decision to the governments across the globe that coordinate the Haj by their Muslim citizens every year, New Age newspaper said. In Bangladesh’s case, the number of pilgrims this year may be slashed by half. “We don’t have any specific information about how many pilgrims will not able to go for Haj if the ban (is) imposed, but the number can come down to half,” said Shahjahan Mia, Bangladesh’s state minister...

The Health Ministry announced Egypt's first swine flu fatality on 19 July. The victim was identified as 28-year-old Samah El-Sayed Salima, recently returned from Saudi Arabia after the omra. Her death came after the Health Ministry had repeatedly advised pilgrims to cancel omra trips. El-Sayed began suffering flu-like symptoms in Mecca. She also had an underlying heart condition. Egypt's first cases of swine flu were confirmed in June among people travelling from the US. Soon cases were being reported among passengers coming from Western countries and from Saudi Arabia after performing omra rituals. The Ministry of Health began to call...

Days after his return from an unannounced pilgrimage to the Islamic holy site of Mecca, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison talked about it as a transformational personal experience, saying "I didn't want to turn it into a politics thing." Nearly eight months later, the Minneapolis DFLer faces a House Ethics Committee review of his decision to keep the trip's costs under wraps -- even though it was paid for by a local Islamic nonprofit and typically would be reported as a gift to a public official. Asked about the trip Tuesday, Ellison said that he is "not privy to the internal...

(CNN) -- Two Hajj pilgrims from Iran have contracted the H1N1 virus, according to reports from the country's official news agency. December 2008: A Saudi policeman directs pilgrims at Mount Arafat, southeast of holy city of Mecca. Iran's official Fars news agency Wednesday reported that a 57-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man who had recently returned from a pilgrimage tested positive for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. This brings Iran's tally to three cases. Every year about two million Muslims go on pilgrimage to Mecca -- the holiest place in Islam. As well as the annual Hajj...

Swine flu fears and the global economic crisis are taking their toll on bookings at hotels in the city of Mecca, two months before the start of a minor pilgrimage that attracts up to two million Muslim pilgrims. Umra can be performed any time of the year but most prefer to do it during the last 10 days of the fasting month of Ramadan, which will be around September 10 to 20 this year. The haj season, which falls in November this year, attracts some three million pilgrims. At Ajyad Hotel, favoured for its proximity to the Grand Mosque and...

I noted earlier tonight that all American taxpayers are paying for the Uighurs' indefinite vacation in Bermuda, but that is very much the exception to the rule. Most of us never find anyone willing to pay for our vacations. If you're a Congressman, though, that rule doesn't necessarily apply.We've written several times about Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison's hajj to Mecca, most recently here. A spokesman for Ellison, the first Muslim Congressman, first claimed that he paid for the pilgrimage himself. Later it was reported that the Muslim American Society paid for the trip, which MAS spokesman Mahdi Bray heatedly denied,...

The Muslim religious authorities in Egypt have suggested delaying the annual pilgrimage to Mecca because of the spread of swine flu. Egypt's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Jumua, has called for a religious edict to decide how long the pilgrimage rites of the Hajj could be postponed. At least two million people took part in the last Hajj, which falls this year in November.

JERUSALEM – President Barack Obama's paternal grandmother, Sarah Obama, will reportedly perform the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage this year along with her son Syeed Obama. A private Kenyan television channel, quoted extensively by the Kenyan and Pakistani media, reported Sarah Obama and her son will also visit Dubai before going to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj. The pair lives in Kenya. The News, a newspaper in Dubai, confirmed the report. It quoted United Arab Emirates' property tycoon Sulaiman Al Fahim as stating he will personally sponsor Sarah Obama's trip after meeting the elderly Obama in Kenya last week and learning she...

JERUSALEM – President Barack Obama's paternal grandmother, Sarah Obama, will reportedly perform the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage this year along with her son Syeed Obama. A private Kenyan television channel, quoted extensively by the Kenyan and Pakistani media, reported Sarah Obama and her son will also visit Dubai before going to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj. The pair lives in Kenya.

US President Barack Obama’s paternal grandmother, Sara Obama, will perform haj this year along with her son Syed Obama, a private TV channel reported on Saturday. According to the channel, Sara and Syed will also visit Dubai before going to Saudi Arabia for performing haj

China has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to build a new railway system linking the main sites of the annual Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj. ... Saudi Arabia also plans to build a high-speed rail link to take pilgrims from Mecca to Medina, Islam's two holiest cities, in 30 minutes. ... The new network in Saudi Arabia is expected to be ready within three years, with one section of the line due to be completed in time for the 2010 Hajj, officials said. The contract, worth almost $1.8bn (£1.24bn), was awarded to the China Railway Company and a French firm.

CNN likens inauguration to 'hajj' Crowd cited, 'That is the initial definition of a pilgrimage, show up' A special CNN report has likened attendance at President Obama's inauguration to participation in the hajj, the pilgrimage to Islam's holy city Mecca that Muslims are required to make at least once. The CNN report was criticized by the FreedomsLighthouse.com blog. "Just when you think you have heard everything from the liberal media, they best their own record for ludicrous reporting," said the website report about the CNN video. "Here is a CNN report that actually compares the upcoming presidential inauguration to the...

CNN correspondent Zain Verjee, in a report posted on CNN.com on January 17, likened the expected large crowds for the inauguration of Barack Obama to the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca: “The coming political pilgrimage to Washington is similar to another grand event in both size and preparation -- the Hajj, the most important religious pilgrimage in the Muslim world.” Verjee has personal experience of the Hajj, as she belongs to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam. She filed a web log for CNN of her experience on the pilgrimage in 2005. During her report, she emphasized how...

Note: Video included. CNN Report Actually Compares Upcoming Inauguration to Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca - Video 1/16/09 Just when you think you have heard everything from the liberal media, they best their own record for ludicrous reporting. Here is a CNN report that actually compares the upcoming Presidential Inauguration to the Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca! I kid you not!

Barack Obama's inauguration promises to be one of the most important civic events in American history. Millions will make their way to the National Mall. More than 10,000 buses will be chartered. At a website called Inauguration or Bust, people anywhere in the country can find locals to travel with. At the site, the contingent from Savannah, Georgia, refers to its trip as a "pilgrimage". That word, most often associated with religious fervor, is appropriate here. The inauguration buzz is reminiscent of the excitement I have encountered in Muslim countries in the days preceding the hajj. The theological comparison isn't...

Just when you think you have heard everything from the liberal media, they best their own record for ludicrous reporting. Here is a CNN report that actually compares the upcoming Presidential Inauguration to the Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca! I kid you not! The report never mentions Obama by name, but we did not see any comparisons between President Bush's Inauguration and the Hajj to Mecca. For the mainstream media, who take such pride in helping to get Barack Obama elected with their incredibly biased reporting, perhaps the inauguration of Barack Obama is a religious event, as they put their...

There was no fanfare, no press release when Keith Ellison made the pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca last week. "We weren't really trying to turn this into a political thing," said the Democratic congressman from Minneapolis. "This is just me trying to be the best person I can be." Downplaying his role as the first member of Congress to make the Hajj, as the pilgrimage is known, Ellison called the experience "transformative." "It really didn't have anything to do with me being a congressman," said Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. Bravo...Sierra...

Alerted by Saudi and other intelligence agencies that al-Qaida planned to launch a bloody assault on Muslim pilgrims taking part in the annual pilgrimage - the Hajj - the Saudi government last week launched a huge counterterrorism operation, one of the largest in recent memory, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Over 3 million Muslims flocked to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage which retraces a route taken by the Prophet Mohammed 14 centuries ago. This year's event began Dec 6 under the nervous eye of Saudi security forces that included 20,000 ground forces, flights of combat helicopters and a large number...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, made the hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca last week, calling it a "transformative" experience. The Democrat from Minnesota's 5th Congressional District traveled to the Saudi Arabian city along with about 3 million people. The journey is a lifelong dream for many Muslims. "It was transformative. It was a wonderful experience," Ellison said in a telephone interview today. "I learned a lot about myself, about my faith."

Since CNN devoted so much time to covering the Hajj, a number of prominent Muslims -- including known terrorists and jihadists -- have opined that "We are defeating these people [American "evangelicals"] through their homes in their lands." "Terrorists gush over CNN coverage," by Aaron Klein for WorldNetDaily, December 12 (thanks to Doc Washburn): JERUSALEM – CNN's extensive coverage this week of the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is a defeat for evangelical Christians and proves it is only a question of time before Islam will be "shining all over the world," according to Muslim terrorists in Gaza speaking to...

JERUSALEM – CNN's extensive coverage this week of the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is a defeat for evangelical Christians and proves it is only a question of time before Islam will be "shining all over the world," according to Muslim terrorists in Gaza speaking to WND. Starting last Saturday and continuing until Wednesday, CNN provided regular coverage of the Hajj, the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. The fifth pillar of Islam requires every able-bodied Muslim to travel to Mecca at least once in their life in a demonstration of solidarity with fellow Muslims and in an act of...

<p>These astonishing images show a vast tent city housing thousands of Muslims in Saudi Arabia for the holy hajj pilgrimage....the Kabaa, Islam's holiest shrine....</p> <p>Later in the day, pilgrims enjoyed a feast of freshly slaughtered sheep, goats and camels at a huge tent city in Mina, a desert valley east of Islam's holiest city, Mecca, where the Kabaa resides....</p>

The pilgrimage that brings more than 2 million Muslims to Mecca every year tends to make them more religiously observant and also more tolerant, a huge study of Pakistani pilgrims suggests. Hamoud al-Massri, of Egypt, says that after this year's hajj, he will read more about people of different cultures. Muslims who undertake the hajj "return with more positive views towards people from other countries," are more likely to say "that people of different religions are equal," and are twice as likely as other religious Muslims to condemn Osama bin Laden, the study found. "People become more orthodox yet more...

You might see a picture of thousands of Muslims throwing rocks at stone pillars and believe that they ran out of 13 year-old-girls or other women to stone to death. But in this case it isn't that they ran out of rape victims to prosecute for adultery but this is an actual rite of the religion of peace. Called Stoning of the Devil the ritual is the most dangerous part of the pilgrimage because On several occasions hundreds of participants have suffocated or been trampled to death in stampedes. Read more about this ritual below

Nearly 3 million pilgrims chanting prayers converged Saturday in a valley just outside the holy city of Mecca at the beginning of the 5-day hajj pilgrimage, a lifelong dream for many Muslims. The pilgrims from about 100 countries left Mecca after completing the first ritual of the hajj by circling the sacred Kaaba stone structure seven times inside the Grand Mosque, which Muslims all over the world face during their five daily prayers. Dressed in white robes, pilgrims piled into and on top of buses on their way to a ritual of prayer and reflection in Mina, 3 miles east...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- Draped in white robes to symbolize purity and the equality of mankind under God, nearly 3 million Muslims from all over the world gathered Friday in Mecca, on the eve of the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Male pilgrims, wearing two-piece seamless white robes, and women, covered head to foot except for their hands and faces, circled the sacred Kaaba stone structure seven times inside the Grand Mosque, which Muslims face during their five daily prayers. A pillar of the Muslim faith, the hajj is packed with symbolism and ritual aimed at cleansing the soul...

Many US Muslims postpone pilgrimage to Mecca as they grapple with tough economic times DETROIT (AP) -- Zeinab Chami planned to save money from her part-time job and get a little more from her family. But the 24-year-old graduate student ultimately couldn't round up enough to pay for a trip to Mecca. "It's just for some reason a lot tougher this year," said Chami about saving for the hajj, the journey every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it is obligated to take at least once. "Although I could probably take out a loan, bend over backwards to do it, it's...

Saudi Arabia: Asian immigrant forced to clean mosques for 'skipping prayers' Riyadh, 18 Nov. (AKI) - A Saudi civil court has ordered an Asian immigrant to clean mosques next month during this year's Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca after religious police caught him skipping Friday prayers several times, Saudi daily al-Watan reports. The man will have to clean five mosques along the highway into Mecca twice daily for eleven days, the court ruled... Earlier this month, a judge ordered a young man to memorise part of the Koran and 40 sayings of the Prophet Mohammed as a...

As the global war on terror approaches the start of its eighth year, the NYPD says it has never been more prepared - but also warns that the city can never let its guard down. In a two-part series, Daily News reporter Patrice O'Shaughnessy looks at the terror threat in New York - and around the world. Sunday's installment focuses on an NYPD undercover officer who dug deep into the potential terrorists in our midst. A young undercover city detective spent four years in the shadowy world of terrorist wanna-bes - taking part in jihadist discussions and training in parks...

Last December, more than 2 million Muslims from around the world converged on Saudi Arabia to participate in the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca. The Hajjis spent a month performing religious rituals, mingling with Muslims from all walks of life, and, in some cases, taking part in communal chants of "Death to America" led by Islamic extremists. This was understandably unnerving to the 10,000 or so Americans who made the pilgrimage, not to mention those who didn't. Such behavior raised concerns that the Hajj is a breeding ground for anti-Western sentiment—or worse. Then again, the...

The journey to Mecca, formally known as the Hajj, is a dream for Muslims all over the world, who believe they should make the pilgrimage once during their lifetimes. Unfortunately, this dream is not always attainable -- so the Muslim Student Association decided to bring Mecca to Charlottesville.

BAGHDAD – Pilgrims traveling from Iraq to Mecca in the annual observance of the Hajj experienced a peaceful travel period this year with no reported violent incidents. At the conclusion of the Hajj travel period, more than 30,000 Iraqi pilgrims will have traveled to and from Mecca by air and ground. Iraqis traveled through six ports of entry during the annual pilgrimage from Dec. 11 through Jan. 7. The pilgrims traveled by air transportation from Baghdad, Irbil, Mosul and Basra while others moved by ground transportation from Safwan and Ara’r. In preparation for Hajj travel, the Mosul airport reopened after...