British museum to stage Hajj exhibition

The world's largest exhibition on the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, is to be staged at the British Museum early in 2012, it has announced.

Manuscripts, diaries, historic photographs and contemporary art will be displayed to mark the annual ritual, undertaken by Muslims across the world.The museum's director, Neil MacGregor, said the Hajj was a cultural phenomenon "that needs to be better understood".

Hajj: Journey To The Heart Of Islam will run from 26 January to 15 April.

Pilgrim's journey

Every adult Muslim is meant to undertake the Hajj at least once in their life if they can afford the journey to Saudi Arabia and are physically able.Many Muslims save for years in order to perform the pilgrimage. Circling the kaaba in the great mosque in Mecca is

part of the ritual.Once they arrive, they must brave vast crowds and the fierce heat of the desert as they perform the Hajj rituals.

The exhibition will examine the pilgrim's journey, the rituals and the destination to Mecca.

It will also feature the work of contemporary Saudi artists such as Ahmed Mater and Shadia Alem.

The idea is simple and, like its central element, forcefully attractive. Ahmed Mater gives a twist to a magnet and sets in motion tens of thousands of particles of iron, a multitude of tiny satellites that forms a single swirling nimbus. Even if we have not taken part in it, we have all seen images of the Hajj, the great annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca. Ahmed's black cuboid magnet is a small simulacrum of the black-draped Ka'bah, the 'Cube', that central element of the Meccan rites. His circumambulating whirl of metallic filings mirrors in miniature the concentric tawaf of the pilgrims, their sevenfold circling of the Ka'bah.

Mr MacGregor described the Hajj as a "supreme spiritual moment for Muslims" which "shapes the notion of the Islamic community worldwide".He added: "Very beautiful things, supreme works of art, have been made to be sent to Mecca to accompany people.

"We'll be looking at some of those objects and they are supreme."

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14214855

NATO CONNED US YET AGAIN

Article written by Zahid Asmal

As images of the lifeless bloodied body of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi flashed across our television screens, I could not help but feel pity for the hundreds of those gun toting jubilant young men who were conned into killing the maverick.Qadaffi reminded me of former U.S.president George W Bush Jnr, they even looked alike. The only difference being the latter got away with murder.
Duped into believing that they were fighting to liberate their country from tyranny, these young men hadn't the slightest of idea that they had just signed off their Libya to the oil wolves until death do the world apart.
Zionist Jews, wanting to establish a solid footing in Qadaffi's Libya, donned NATO uniforms and staunchly argued for a boots on the ground intervention. The citizens of Benghazi was about to be wiped out they cried! We want to help the people of Libya!

The story was bought. Libyan's were hooked!
The real reason as we all know is the huge oil reserves Libya has and the strong desire of some 200 thousand Jews to return to the country. Remember that Qaddafi was also adamant in implementing the GOLD dinar system, a single African currency which would be made from gold- a true sharing of the wealth.He called on all African and Muslims countries to join hands in implementing this currency which would rival the Dollar and the Euro. They would sell oil and other resources around the world only for gold dinars. It was an idea that would shift the economic balance of the world as a countries wealth would be dependent on how much gold they have and not how many dollars they trade and Libya has 144 tons of gold.......

It had nothing to do with protecting civilians.
Wonder where they were when Muslims in the Balkans were crying out for help?
It took NATO almost a full decade to intervene with air power. In Libya, it took one month to mobilize a broad coalition, secure a U.N. mandate,and establish a no fly or drive zone. Libyan's - who had free education,health,and housing, will as from today have to re pay the United States, Britain, and
France, for "setting them free". A life long commitment! The U.S. has already made it clear that Libya's 36 billion dollars in frozen assets will be welcomed as part of the thank you deal.

The maverick is history, he's victims are history.
We will miss his colourful presence and illusional banter.

Hajj 1953 - Pilgrims

Here are some more photos from Hajj 1953, courtesy of the National Geographic Magazine. This time they focus on the pilgrims:

Their lives changed the day she was born..

Little Wadha is a cute, adorable five year old child. She is the apple of her father's eye being the first born and like all kids she loves going outside and playing with other children but due to her medical condition she is unable to enjoy her life to the fullest. She was born in the UK after her parents moved there to allow her dad to complete his masters degree in law. Wadha was born with a hole in the heart which is a very common congenital heart defect that can be fixed very easily through advanced technological advancements that we have nowadays. Almost 90% of kids with this type of medical condition lead very normal and productive lives as the hole simply closes on its own over time or by a simple medical procedure. Wadha's parents nightmare started when the child was moved to the ICU after delivery and contracted a nosocomial infection or a hospital acquired infection due to unsterilized medical equipment. The infection spread quickly and targeted Wadha's heart and so she required an urgent operation to remove the infection which was becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics.

Unfortunately due to negligence on the part of the surgeon, the infection was scraped away but at the same time the doctor damaged her heart valve. A few days after the surgery the little girls medical condition worsened. Her dad then decided to lay a complaint against the surgeon and the hospital with the UK medical ethics committee. The hospital management and the surgeon were not willing to accept the negligence carried out on their part. Wadha's dad being a lawyer himself then decided to proceed with legal action with the assistance of the Saudi embassy in London. Mr.Al Dossari related his four year ordeal to me regarding the numerous court appearances in the UK and the hostility and resentment he faced by the medical team that treated his daughter. The hospital refused to accept responsibility for the little girl's deteriorating medical condition until realizing that Mr. Al Dossari had sufficient evidence against them. The hospital management then decided to meet with Mr. Al Dossari in private and hand him an apology letter along with a healthy sum of money. Wadha's dad refused the plea bargain and proceeded with legal action. After four years of court proceedings the judge ruled in favour of Mr. Al Dossari. He also ordered that the hospital be shut down due to a lack of hygiene and suspended the surgeon from practicing medicine for a period of six years internationally. The hospital management was naturally not impressed with the outcome and then through media channels implicated Mr. Al Dossari as being part of a terrorist organization having links with Al Qaeeda. They claimed that Mr. Dossari was in the UK not to study or further his degree but was in the country to plot a terror attack. Mr. Al Dossari related to me that his life over the past four years has been a nightmare and that if he wasn't a Muslim having full faith in ALLAH he would not have been able to go through this trial and tribulation that he and his wife have faced whilst in the UK. The hospital superintendent had connections with various media moghuls to turn the story upside down and implicate Mr. Al Dossari as having ties with terrorist organizations and hence did not deserve to receive medical treatment in the UK in the first place. The little girl though has British nationality as she was born in the UK.
The outcome though of their dilemma was that the lawyer representing the hospital realized that his clients were using the media to taint the image of Wadha's dad simply because he is a Muslim attired in an Islamic dress code and adopting a full Islamic way of life.On witnessing how Wadhas dad won the trial despite many hardships and obstacles, the man became a Muslim and opted to no longer represent the hospital in any further legal proceedings.

 Mr. Al Dossari mentioned that in Saudi there is a common misconception that anything from the west is the best. Many VIP members of society would opt to have doctors from Canada or the USA or the UK and look down upon Saudi doctors as though the quality of care provided by a Saudi doctor is inferior to the care given in the UK or the USA for that matter. He stated that this type of attitude needs to change. Wadha has thus far undergone five operations. She had three unsuccessful operations in the UK and has thus far had two successful operations in Saudi Arabia by a Saudi surgeon to repair the damaged heart valve as well as the hole in the heart. With God's grace she has one more operation left which will be carried out when she reaches the age of ten years. Wadhas dad said that he can never forget the kindness and generosity shown to him by all the Muslim communities in the UK who came out in their hundreds to the court house to witness the court proceedings. He mentioned that they had taken to the streets after the media implicated Mr. Al Dossari as being part of a terrorist organization. I guess this is the deceitful mannerism of the west. Whenever a western country faces any kind of loss they utilize the media to disseminate incorrect information to the masses to change the mindset of the people in their favour. After all, the television is the biggest weapon of mass destruction in my opinion and perhaps it is for that reason that the world famous Steve Jobs banned his own kids from watching any television.With God's help Mr. Al Dossari has passed his life's biggest test and trial according to him and I pray that little Wadha's frail body gets stronger each day so that she can enjoy a normal life like any other child.

Have you been a victim of gross medical negligence on the part of the physician, attending nurse or the hospital staff in general? Let us know what your experience has been like. Was there any legal action taken? If yes, what was the outcome of the legal proceedings?

Source:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/women-saudi-arabia-photos/ - pictures