Saudis Use Hajj to Call on Muslims to Shun Militants

With more than 2 million pilgrims from around the world gathered for the annual hajj in Mecca, Saudi leaders seized the opportunity yesterday to claim that militants were using "misguided and void" interpretations of Islam to justify violence.

Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, the state-appointed preacher at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, told pilgrims in a sermon to mark Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice: "Because Muslims have strayed from moderation, we are now suffering from this dangerous phenomenon of branding people infidels and inciting Muslims to rise against their leaders to cause instability.

"The reason for this is a delinquent and void interpretation of Islam based on ignorance ... faith does not mean killing Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean shedding blood, terrorising or sending body parts flying."

He said religious scholars must confront this phenomenon "with concrete proof from Islam to protect our youth from its stench and putridness".

King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's day-to-day ruler, also urged Muslims to shun extremism.

"Muslims should unite and embark on a course that disavows terrorism, which spreads mayhem which is forbidden by Islam," they said in a joint message on state media. "Muslims ... should avoid excess and extremism."

Security arrangements for this year's hajj were more intense than ever amid continuing militant attacks. Last month suicide bombers struck at the interior ministry in Riyadh and gunmen stormed the US consulate in Jeddah.

Crowd safety measures have also been introduced in the hope of avoiding stampedes of the kind which have killed hundreds of pilgrims in recent years. To reduce the crush, a religious edict allowed the devil-stoning ritual, in which pilgrims throw pebbles at pillars, to start earlier in the day than usual.

Authorities also erected wider and taller pillars at the devil-stoning site, expanded a pedestrian bridge into the area and added two emergency exits.

Eid al-Adha was also marked by sermons in other parts of the Muslim world.

Many preachers focused on Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At a mosque in Beirut, Ahmed Kourani, a Shia preacher, attacked the US-led occupation of Iraq and its "invasion of our lands... seeking to humiliate us".

Mohammed al-Sumeidi, the preacher at a mosque in Baghdad, contrasted the city's current plight with its ancient glories.

"Baghdad is the city of science, city of kings, city of believers," he said.

"It has now become the city of explosions and hideout of criminals."

All Muslims are required to perform the hajj at least once in their lifetimes if they can afford it.

It will end tomorrow after the devil-stoning ritual and a circling of the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped structure in Mecca which Muslims turn to during their daily prayers.