Another tragedy strikes in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage where scores of people were killed in a stampede. The following is a partial quote from the report distributed by the Associated Press.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Under a searing desert sun, Muslim pilgrims were packed so tightly some couldn’t keep their feet on the ground. The sweating, restless crowd swayed back and forth with a life of its own.

Still more pilgrims came, searching for space on a bridge that would take them to pillars symbolizing Satan’s temptations. There, they hoped to fulfill their duty to “stone the devil,” throwing seven small pebbles at three columns.

Some pilgrims fainted, exhausted by temperatures that hovered above 100 degrees (Fahrenheit). Others desperately pushed and shoved, gasping for air. All waited for police to give signal for the start of the ritual—not before noon, as Islamic tradition dictates.

At 12:25 p.m. Thursday, the last day of the Hajj, dozens of Saudi

police made way for the crowds. That led to a stampede that doctors said killed 180 people and injured twice as many—another sad chapter in the tragic recurrence of stampedes, fires and protests at the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca.

Very sad indeed! Who is to blame for this tragedy: The restless crowd of pilgrims or their ignorant scholars and leaders? This year’s Hajj drew 2.3 million pilgrims from 100 countries. Just on the plains where the stampede took place, 700,000 had gathered. These large crowds occur because the scholars and the idol worshippers who control the Sacred Masjid established only a few days out of the year for pilgrimage., against the commandment of God. They cram millions of pilgrims at once into the area of Sacred Masjid in those days for their own convenience and reasoning. However, it is not supposed to be this way if people followed the revelations of God.

God’s rule about the pilgrimage period is very clear in the Quran:

“Hajj pilgrimage shall be observed during specific months...” (2:197).

These specific months are the four sacred months (9:2,36). These months are Zul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar and Rabi’I. Therefore, Muslims must be allowed to do their Hajj during any of these months according to the Quran.

Because of not following the clear commandments of God, the scholars and the leaders of Muslim countries restrict Hajj to a few days. This may be for their own convenience, but it comes at the inconvenience, as well as the loss of lives of the pilgrims. The tragedies and turmoil during the Hajj pilgrimage will continue until the “Muslims” realize that God’s laws are always best. If people choose not to follow His laws and commandments, they will inevitably suffer the consequences.

Have you considered the watering of the pilgrims and caring for the Sacred Masjid a substitute for believing in God and the Last Day, and striving in the cause of God? They are not equal in the sight of God... (9:19)