Should Muslims boycott their Pilgrimage?

According to their faith of Islam, millions of Muslims around the world head to Saudi Arabia to perform the religious rituals of Pilgrimage (Hajj) and Omrah. It is one of Islam’s five cornerstones to perform them at least once in a lifetime — for those who can afford them. Pilgrims for these two rituals bring Saudi Arabia billions of dollars annually.

Oil and religious tourism are the two main resources of Saudi Arabia’s national income. Saudi Arabia is one of the top 20 economies in the world (G20), as it has the second-largest petroleum and the fifth-largest proven natural gas reserves.

Should Muslims give up performing their religious rituals and boycott Pilgrimage and Omrah to save their and other innocents’ lives? Or is there another solution that allows then to protest Saudi repression and, at the same time, carry out their religious beliefs.

Some people think that pressure for internationalization of holy places unless Al-Saud’s ruling regime stops using the money made from Pilgrimage and Omrah to harm Arabs and Muslims in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, is a solution.

Despite a huge national income, millions of Saudis live in poverty, struggling on the fringes of one of the world’s most powerful economies. The numbers of Saudis living in poverty were estimated at 12.7 to 25 percent by a range of sources, including The Guardian, Washington Post, and World Bank.

Official statistics on poverty in Saudi Arabia are not available because the Saudi government imposes a blackout on poverty figures. Saudi Arabia prevents...

Read More »