The cleric who delivered the sermon Friday at the annual hajj pilgrimage had a simple request: God grant victory to Muslims fighting around the world. The prayer by Sheik Saleh al-Taleb to 500,000 people in Mecca's Grand Mosque and nearby streets came as the hajj neared its climax. ``Oh God, give victory to the mujahedeen [holy warriors] everywhere,'' al-Taleb said. ``Give them victory in Palestine. Oh God, make the Muslims triumphant and destroy their enemies, and make this country and other Muslim countries safe. Oh God, inflict your wrath on the criminal Zionists.''
| "God, please kill them all!" |
After the sermon, pilgrims headed to the tent city of Mina, the last stop before they go to Mount Arafat for a day of prayers and soul-searching that is the main ritual of the annual gathering. Rajab al-Arabi, a Belgian pilgrim of Tunisian origin, said that hearing a Grand Mosque sermon is ``something one wishes all one's life. It's a dream come true.'' But he added that he had expected a stronger message. ``In Belgium, we have Egyptian and Moroccan clerics who freely criticize the hardships of Muslims, which includes the injustice that has befallen Iraq and the occupation it is under,'' he said. |