By Mohamed Gamal Arafa, IOL Staff

CAIRO, February 8 (IslamOnline) – The Saudi authorities decided to cut short rituals of Hajj (pilgrimage) as “necessary” measure taken in accordance with a fatwa (religious edict) to that effect, a leading Egyptian paper reported on Saturday, February 8.

The semi-official widely-circulating daily Al-Ahram quoted the head of Egyptian delegation of pilgrims as saying that “the Saudi officials grounded their shortcut in a fatwa to the effect that pilgrims might not stay overnight in Mina area and move directly for Arafat plain.”

In the first official day of Hajj, the two million pilgrims travel a few miles to the plain of Mina and encamp there. From Mina, pilgrims travel the following morning to the plain of Arafat where they spend the entire day in earnest supplication and devotion. That evening, the pilgrims move and encamp at Muzdalifa, which is a site between Mina and Arafat. Muslims stay overnight and offer various prayers there.

According to the latest modification, the pilgrims would leave directly for Arafat plain, without an earlier encamping in Mina.

‘An American Request’

The reported announcement raised questions whether there is an American request for an evacuation of the pilgrims amid great prospects for launching a military offensive against Iraq after Eid Al-Adha (Day of Sacrifice), an Islamic celebration marking the end of Hajj.

Meanwhile, the correspondent for German news agency Deutsche Press-Agentur (DPA) quoted a western source as saying on Wednesday, February 5, that a number of Islamic countries received American calls for precipitating the return of their nationals traveling for pilgrimage in a five day framework after the end of Hajj.

The press report, carried by the Saudi website Elaph, quoted the western source as saying that Washington accounted the call for “security reasons”, and that Arab and foreign airliners would be used in the evacuation process.

The evacuation, the largest across the history during such a short period, is reported at a time a state of emergency is declared in Arab Gulf countries in anticipation for a military campaign against Iraq.

But Saudi papers made no mention of abridging the Hajj rituals.

Al-Watan daily only said authorities in the Islamic kingdom had taken all preparations for receiving two million pilgrims flocking to Mina for the Sunday 9 ritual.

A director with EgyptAir airlines, Rashad Rifei, said 300 flights were earmarked for the return of pilgrims from the holy land, including 180 charter ones, a step explained to add up to evacuation preparations.

But airline officials made clear that running charter flights is a normal measure in the season of pilgrimage.

According to the Fatwa section in IslamOnline, some religious schools, such as The Hanifiyyah sees that performing the Mina ritual is a recommended act according to Islamic Law (Sharia) and it can be skipped during Hajj. However, other religious schools see it as a must that can’t be skipped during Hajj.