As my husband and I have been watching this years pilgrims perform Hajj, my husband shared with me his memories of Hajj when he was just a young boy growing up in Makkah. During those times (and we’ll be kind and not mention years) it was traditional for Makkah residents that the man of the house would perform Hajj each year. While he was perfoming Hajj and was with other pilgrims at Arafat or Minnah, the wife and children would dress in their best clothes and go to the Haram (Grand Mosque). They would spend hours at the Haram and come home very hungry. And of course their female friends and their children would also be at the Haram all day too. It was a tradition that after arriving home, they would join the other ladies in the neighborhood in what would today be referred to as a block party. Tables and chairs would be set up in the streets and everyone would contribute their best dishes. There would also be dancing and song and an overall sense of celebration. And if one happened to see a man approaching, the women would gather stones to throw at the man while shouting at him “why was he not at Hajj with the other men?”
Filed under: culture, friendship, gender, islam, religion, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel, Uncategorized, Women Issues
I forgot, tomorrow is Eid (perhaps today in the another half of the world ) Happy Eid to all.
interesting story. I liked it.
Eid Mubarak!
Today is indeed Eid al Adha.
Eid Mubarak to everyone!
They’d throw stones at him?? Wow, nobody’d better get lost in that town! :]
They sure would. This morning I told my Saudi mother-in-law this was today’s post and she smiled and pantomined how they would throw stones (most likely pebbles) while telling the man “yallah, yallah, roh…..”
LOL! That sounds like a lot of fun!
If only one could go back in time for an hour or so! 🙂
I agree and there are so many places I’d like to go!
Eid Mubarak to all!
Yay…a “religious” reason to pelt men with stones…what a perfect Eid story.
Eid mubarak everyone…hope you have a wonderful holiday.
Eid Mubarak
LOL
First time to hear such a tradition!!
Loved the throwing part. I can’t stop picturing them doing that hehehe
Seasons greetings Carol
What happened over the years? Block parties in Makkah, singing, dancing, women in the streets, not running from men but throwing stones? Sounds like someone’s bad dream, but I sure would like to see something like that nowdays- the block party, not the stones!
Eid Mubarak to all!
‘Yay…a “religious” reason to pelt men with stones…what a perfect Eid story.’
Well that certainly seems much tamer than the Saudi version of the Q’uran where I read that they should burn down the house of the man who did not go to mosque.
Such a contradiction to there being no compulsion in religion eh? lol
Eid Mubarak!
Thank you for all your excellent blog posts and for modelling successful expatriation.
Chiara
Not sure why that particular icon came up on my comment. If you are able to delete it or choose a smiling one please do. I do not know how to. No need to print this comment unless the evil icon persists. Thank you.
Chiara
Chiara – welcome! I’m sorry but I have no control over the avatars which are selected however you can select your own personal avatar to have associated with any blogs which you choose to comment upon.
Glad all are enjoying hearing some of the old Makkah traditions from way back.
Eid Mubarak Everyone!
It’s very interesting to compare some of the differences from those old days and now, although even as liberal as Jeddah is, I can’t say we ever had a block party with the neighbors….and definitely no dancing!
The closest thing I’ve seen to that were a few times when they had a little bazaar here, where all the venders were women in mixed environment.
Eid mubarak everybody!
Chiara, bad luck on that avatar! lol
to get your own:
http://en.gravatar.com/
Miriam – thanks to my husband and MIL I learn more and more that there are many surprises and fascinating history to Makkah.
As Coolred pointed out, throwing stones is an act of ignorance:
Bukhari
Volume 7, Book 67, Number 388:
Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Maghaffal:
that he saw a man throwing stones with two fingers (at something) and said to him, “Do not throw stones, for Allah’s Apostle has forbidden throwing stones, or e used to dislike it.” ‘Abdullah added: Throwing stones will neither hunt the game, nor kill (or hurt) an enemy, but it may break a tooth or gouge out an eye.” Afterwards ‘Abdullah once again saw the man throwing stones. He said to him, “I tell you that Allah’s Apostle has forbidden or disliked the throwing the stones (in such a way), yet you are throwing stones! I shall not talk to you for such-and-such a period.”
If ya all notice the word cloud to the right demonstrates that culture and customs are the running themes on Carol’s blog-not Islam.
Aafke
Thank you! Not only do I get a new avatar but I can fantasize about a less cold and snowy day than the one outside my window.
Chiara
Aafke
Thank you! Not only do I get an new avatar but I get to fantasize about a better place than the cold and snowy one currently outside my window!
Chiara
“I tell you that Allah’s Apostle has forbidden or disliked the throwing the stones (in such a way), yet you are throwing stones! I shall not talk to you for such-and-such a period.”
Yet throwing stones (at the devil) is a major part of hajj?
Brooke – I have NEVER claimed to write an Islamic blog. I happen to believe reilgion is a very personal choice. However I do take pleasure in sharing what I learn of Saudi Arabia and particularly the traditions and customs of older times.
If you are seeking an Islamic blog you have come to the wrong place.
I think what coolred meant was that she really diggs the idea of pelting stones at men.
(correct me if I’m wrong)
And I thought what Brooke means is to make clear that American bedu is in fact about culture and customs, not Islam.
(correct me if I’m wrong)
Perhaps another poll? I seem to get the impression most women commenting here seemed to digg the ideas of pelting men with stones. I certainly saw that right in front of my minds eye 🙂
and smiled…
Eid Mubarak to all and yes, I’m for the idea of pelting men with stones for not performing the Hajj. That means I should be pelted too unless I’m excused for being 19!
When I went for Umrah for the first time, seeing the throngs of people doing the tawwaf around the Ka’abah, kneeling down while praying and making the dua had made me think and wonder about many things that is beyond anyone’s explanation.
Insyallah, I would love to return back to Makkah and sit in the Haram and think of the same things beyond anyone’s explanation.
there is no doubt every time one enters the Haram there is a form of transformation. I know each time I’ve entered I have a feeling of being overwhelmed and literally have to catch my breath. It is so nice to be able to go when it is quieter and sit and contemplate.
AA- Carol,
LOL!! What a funny story! But seriously it sounds like something from over a hundred years ago!
How old is your husband again? 😉
Eid Mubarak!
Walaikum Salam Naeem,
glad you enjoyed! Although it may have sounded like something from one hundred years ago it was a bit more recent than that! (smile)
and if I hinted my hubby’s age he would not be happy!
Eid Mubarak to you and your family as well.
Eid Mubarak to everyone.
Hello American Bedu,
Sorry for the off-topic but I am intrigued by the picture used as your blog-header? Where is it from? Who is the artist? Any more to come?
Salamaat,
TM
Clouddragon…u read me so well…lol. I can think of a few men in particular that could use a few stones upside the head…oops…thinking out loud there…sorry.
I can think of a few men I’d like to pelt with stones, ug, I mean pebbles 🙂
Carol, I clearly get this is not an “Islamic blog” though you do see the constant occurrences of people mistaking all/any things Saudi with being Islamic. Even if you put a disclaimer on each and every post, some readers will still not make that distinction. Many Muslims obviously don’t know this hadith about rock throwing, maybe a few more will now 😉
Eid Mubarak- late as ever I’m afraid… Hope and pray all find comfort and solace on this day.
Lynn, about the burning houses in the Saudi version of Quran… well I just will have to put aside the word version and Saudi on the side for a moment there.. because thats a factual error.. There is a Saudi understanding of Islam.. but not a different Quran.
The house burning was reffered to in a story about the prophet and the people who did not attend prayers. It’s not a rule or a guideline because the prophet just expressed that angry he is with those who didn’t attend the prayers in the mosques.. while if you tell them to go to a dinner/life joy they will be there. If you can read the original Hadith.. you will see that in no way he is ordering to burn houses, he was just implying of a situation that he is angry with and his resolve with his anger that his soul belongs to god.
DW,
I was not speaking of a hadith. I was speaking of a Quran that was printed in and distributed from Saudi Arabia. Hence, I called it a Saudi version.
I’ll tell you, it sure did seem like a whole different book with completely different meanings than others that I have read. It is amazing how one little word interpreted with a different slant can sure change the meaning of a sentence or a paragraph.
What you are saying is that there is a hadith where the prophet was just giving ideas of what should happen to those people but they weren’t supposed to take him seriously and try to please him by actually doing what he said?
“and try to please him by actually doing what he said?”
As the Saudis would say, “all pleasure is for Allah, not for his apostle”.
Palestinian – welcome and glad you like the new banner. I always look for unique scenes which can be cropped appropriately to be used as a banner. Sorry…I am not sure which site this one was from off hand.
Was it a quran with a translation/interpertation embded? Some tafsir(religious word = explanation) attached to some versions of quran mixes hadith with passages in the explanation of a passage. The passage might for example God addressing Mohammad for something where he erred, for example the incident where he dismissed an old man.. in a tafsir book, the explanation of the verses might add refrences from Hadith that is not mentioned in the Quran.
As far as I know there is no mention of burning houses unless in that particular hadith.. if you can highlight the sura/aya for me it would help me investigate.. I am not really well read on the Quran tbh.. so I need to confirm myself.
I think to further explain this is how it’s common to someone to say “well I oughta show those damn kids” while not really going about unless just to vent anger.
@Lynn
1. There is no such thing as a Saudi version of the Quran. There isn’t even a Saudi understanding of Quran. The majority of Saudis may follow a particular school of thought and that is fine, trust and believe there is only one version of the Quran.
2. You will find nowhere in the Quran the Prophet Muhammad saying that the house of a man should be burned down for not going to the prayer. You won’t even find a hadeeth or tafsir (explabnation of the Quran) saying that he should or would or suggusting that anyone does. Rather you will find him expressing his displeasure in men who not pray in the masjjid without a valid reason.
3. “There was a time when no one stayed away from the prayer except a hypocrite who was known for his hypocrisy or one who was sick…” Narrated by Muslim, 654
It is obligatory for Muslim men to pray his 5 daily prayers in the Masjid (unless he is sick or traveling), otherwise they will be resembling the hypocrites.
4. It is narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, I had thought of ordering that wood be gathered, then I would command the call to prayer to be given, and I would appoint a man to lead the people in prayer, then I would go to men [who do not attend the congregational prayer] and burn their houses down around them. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if anyone of you had known that he would receive a bone covered with meat or two (small) pieces of meat in a sheep’s foot, he would come for ‘Isha’ prayer.”
Al-Bukhaari, 7224; Muslim, 651.
5. Concerning your statement, “What you are saying is that there is a hadith where the prophet was just giving ideas of what should happen to those people but they weren’t supposed to take him seriously and try to please him by actually doing what he said?”
In this hadeeth, he thought of burning the house. Never did he order or say that the house should be burned. It was more of an expression and none of his companions ever misunderstood it for anything else.
Lynn- there is no Saudi version of the Qur’an. There is but one Qur’an what your talking about is a particular TRANSLATION of the Qur’an and what your probably referring to is the abriged translation of Muhsin Khan & Taqi AlHilali which is printed in Riyadh which doesn’t make it a “Saudi Qur’an”
In fact Yousif Alis trasnlation is printed in Medina and distributed by the Saudi Embassies around the world, not Khan and Hilali’s translation.
And DW is quite right there is NO mention of burning down houses of the men who don’t come out for prayer. It is a hadith in which Khan and Hilali use to explain a verse of the Qur’an. Their use of the hadith as I remember is to point out the importance of community prayer especially among men. It is NOT part of the Qur’an, no more than any of their choices of Hadith to give explanation are.
The Hadith that DW pointed to is correct, it was in relation to men who didn’t come out for community prayer even though it was obligatory for them to do so. Stressing the importance of this Muhammad pbuh said that if it were not for the women and children in the house he would have burnt it down. The mens failure to come out for prayer was a wrong, their taking refuge in their homes instead of coming out to seek refuge with Allah in the masjid as a community was what they should have been doing.
No compulsion in religion is a long discussion..not one I think this forum is designed for.
My advice stay away from the Khan and Hilali translation as it happens to be the most confusing translation for many.
IMO The Seheeh International is the BEST Translation. I think that is the one used during Ramadan to translate the prayers at the haran on t.v. If not I’d love to know what translation that is because it is excellent.
DW,
It was a Quran that was translated into English that was distributed from a place in Saudi Arabia. It was an orange book and I no longer have it so I can’t look up anything about it.
You are not well versed in the Quran but you are in hadeeth? That seems kind of backwards to me.
‘It was more of an expression and none of his companions ever misunderstood it for anything else’
Ummadam, That is really awesome that you are able to know every thought or understanding of people who lived 1400 years ago. Especially those who, the minute the prophet died, seemed to forget everything he’d ever said and started killing each other for the power and control.
‘trust and believe there is only one version of the Quran’
I trust and believe my eyes and they saw a book that called itself a quran, was in English and came from Saudi Arabia, I have also seen qurans in English distributed by somewhere in the US and the translation seemed less harsh than the one from KSA. Hence, I call them different versions. I’m sorry if you don’t like my terminology.
So, back to the throwing of stones. If it is so disliked as seen in the quoted hadith, why is it a big part of hajj with the stoning of the devil?
“Ummadam, That is really awesome that you are able to know every thought or understanding of people who lived 1400 years ago. Especially those who, the minute the prophet died, seemed to forget everything he’d ever said and started killing each other for the power and control….”
that is the eternal question…how the heck are we to know what was going on…really going on…in those days when even the sahaba and other followers were running around getting the life long fitna that would plague future muslims off to a good start…just wondering.
Lynn, there are websites where you can look up sura’s and compare different translations. And you can clearly see how different people put a different flavour to their translation.
That is why everybody always tells you you have to learn Arabic, so you can read the quran in Arabic.
My arabic speaking friends tell me the translation of Yusouf Ali is the best one.
And I have a nineteenth century translation, very difficult to read, but interesting to compare.
It is very easy to give a translation your own turn. And some translations certainly put so much flavour into it as to change the meaning, which amounts to bidah, which is not allowed but that never stops people who are convinced they know better.
Coolred38, I think we can always discern the message, but shouldn’t weigh the literal words too much as I do not believe, nobody can make me believe, that there hasn’t been some changes over the many centuries.
I read Abu Haraira was told off both by Aïscha and Omar ibn Khattib for embellishing stories and making up hadith, and he certainly had a great many to tell considering he spend only the last three years in the company.
When you read some of his hadith they seem completely contrary to the superior character of the prophet, and his actions and other hadith.
Some people consider the hadith of greater importance than the quran and that seems weird to me.
The sahaba were only humans.
I’m little bit picky, sorry, but there is nothing called “Qur’an translation” there is interpretation , but translation never. Someone may correct me here, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no any Saudis has written an English interpretation of the Qur’an; some were published in the KSA, but all of them were mostly written by non-Arabs. The early English interpretations of the Qur’an BTW were written by non-Muslims. Only in the early 20th century a copy came out that was written by a Muslim. I know two renowned Saudi scholars who have PhD in English literature and translation, refused to work in writing the interpretation of the Qur’an in English . According to them, it’s not an easy task. They translated many novels BTW.
Could you please Aafke give me the site where I can find the different interpretations of the Qur’an . Till now I’ve not found a site that I like. I’d like an easy organized site .
there’s a facility in Medina that is government run and does official quranic translations in differing languages.
I’ll see if I can get the name and add it to this comment.
Lynn, in Saudi the education system continously teaches about 5 subjects of Islamic sciences every year starting from 4th grade if I remember right.
The subjects are Tawhid (monotheism in Islam), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) , Quran recitations(Tajweed), Tafsir and Hadith . Along all the time studying the subjects.. you are not forced to memorize or read the whole Quran. Reading/memorizing the whole Quran is a personal choice, it’s preferred to be practiced in Ramadan but its a consisitant long commitement.. I have to come clean on this.. I am really bad at keeping momentum for prolonged periods, I get derailed/distracted easily. Anyways, Hadith gets debated a lot and teachers of all sorts like to tell stories of the prophet.. I am sure I came across this Hadith before.. but even in Hadith or Quran, the context and chronolgy of them is really important. Some Hadith are called weak, Some Quran verses contain verses that render other verses in earlier revelations obselete. For example in early Islam Drinking was not prohibted outright but the verses gradually changed from asking Muslims to stay away from it.. to prohibiting it. I could tell you this because it was already discussed in “Fiqh” material, but I cannot pull it from these certain verses in these certain Suras from. I do not want to prolong this discussion personally because I feel guilty for derailing the whole subject.
back to the post..
Its an intresting tradition, I have my doubts that it still continues now… because of the changes in Makkah’s demography and also the recent changes in Hajj arrangmenets.
Carol, I guess you are refering to “matabi’ Khadem Al-Haramain” in Madina. Yup, this was the place that asked for the consultation of the two Saudi Profs I mentioned above.
Yes, Khalid and here is the link for anyone interested:
http://www.qurancomplex.org/default.asp?l=eng
this link is for english but there are multiple language choices.
DW – the tradition I wrote about no longer continues in today’s time. This was before there were restrictions or quotas on who could perform hajj.
Dear Khalid and all
There is an excellent site for comparative English transliterations of the Quran at:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/001.qmt.html
(Sorry I don’t know how to embed-yet)
OR
google — quran “University of Southern California” “Centre for Jewish-Muslim Engagement” resources
It is an interactive site that allows you to read sequentially, use an index, or find a verse directly.
Each verse is presented with three respected transliterations, those of Yusufali, Pickthal, and Shakir.
Having all 3 allows you to compare, better understand the original, and appreciate the variations all translations or transliterations entail. You could just read your favorite transliteration/translation all the way through.
The Centre site is also a wealth of other relevent information.
Good reading!
Chiara
Dear Khalid and all
There is an excellent site for comparative English transliterations of the Quran at:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/001.qmt.html
(Sorry I don’t know how to embed-yet)
OR
google — quran “University of Southern California” “Centre for Jewish-Muslim Engagement” resources
It is an interactive site that allows you to read sequentially, use an index, or find a verse directly.
Each verse is presented with three respected transliterations, those of Yusufali, Pickthal, and Shakir.
Having all 3 allows you to compare, better understand the original, and appreciate the variations all translations or transliterations entail. You could just read your favorite transliteration/translation all the way through.
The Centre site is also a wealth of other relevent information.
Good reading!
Chiara
Hey what do you know-I embedded! I hope!
Chiara AKA neophyte blog commentator
Chiara – you did GREAT!
Just realized my earlier url takes you to Al-Fatiha directly. For the whole Quran site use:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran
Chiara
Khalid, you have defenitely a point, calling it an ”interpretation”
This is a site I like very much:
http://www.quranbrowser.org/
@ Khalid- yes interpretation of the Qur’an rather than translation is more accurate a description. Anyone can see that if they say take Y. Alis and Muhammad Asad it is quite obvious interpretations, personal understandings, and education will influence the choice of translation.
btw M.A.S. Abdel Haleem is an Egyptian who translated the Qur’an.. so there is an Arab who did do it. I haven’t read it myself.
Seriously, back to the throwing of stones. If it is so disliked as seen in the quoted hadith, why is it a big part of hajj with the stoning of the devil?
I cannot speak from the perspective of religious scholarship, but common sense can answer this question. Throwing stones at the devil is something you do symbolically at Hajj. Throwing stones on men for not going to prayer is another matter altogether. There is no parallel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning_of_the_devil
Symbolically throwing stones at the devil during a religious ritual is indeed different than throwing stones in anger at persons. That said, a male Arab friend in Morocco told me shout and to pick up a stone and throw it if I were being harassed by a man. I understood that was a traditional way for women to express their displeasure and to send a man away, much as the women in American Bedu’s story used pebbles and “yallah” to send “intruders” off so they could continue their festivities. It’s a charming story, and I suspect there was alot more “culture of segregation” in it than theology!
See http://stop-stoning.org for info on Islam (Quran, hadith, fiqh, country and cultural variations) on the less charming aspects of throwing stones. I prefer the charming! lol
Chiara
@Lynn – Ummadam, That is really awesome that you are able to know every thought or understanding of people who lived 1400 years ago. Especially those who, the minute the prophet died, seemed to forget everything he’d ever said and started killing each other for the power and control.?
I never said that so don’t be a smart ass. However, since we do not have any recorded traditions of the companions or any of our RIGHTLY GUIDED predccessors burning down the homes of men who don’t pray, I think it’s safe to assume that none of them considered it to be an order or they would have gladly carried it out. We don’t even have sick and twisted contemporary extremist burning down homes in the name of misintrepreting a hadeeth.
Seems to me like Muslims understood the hadeeth fine, but it is another was the disbelievers hypocrites and enmies of Islam try to spread doubt.
We dont have any reliable traditions that state stoning for adultery is God sanctioned…and yet that gets done all the time…there are plenty of “Islamic” practices that have no basis in Islam and yet get the Holy Religious Stamp of Approval on it merely because some “sheiks” before us said so. If there are no house burnings going on I would guess its because all the “rules” pertain only to the women of Islam and not to the men…who have a hell of an easier time practicing(or not) then the women do….just my opinion.
And let’not forget the four witnesses to the actual deed, which are nesseccary to convict anybody for adultery. I have the impression this is often forgotten in favour of the pleasure of being able to convict a (woman mostly) to a horrible death.
Dear Chiara, I quickly had a glance at the link you provided., I cannot speak about all the countries mentioned in the site, but I assure you that “stoning to death” is not practiced in KSA as it is wrongly mentioned on the site. In fact, I was once listening to a conversation by 3 Saudis who are very knowledgeable about the Islamic laws and the laws practiced in the KSA; they confirmed the same.
True Aafke, you made a valid point. The conviction cannot be issued without 4 witnesses. At any rate, all the penalties in Islam are equally the same for men and women. Also men and women are equal by all means in Islam — I apologize in advance, but I’m stubborn 🙂 and no matter how many claims will come out here to prove that men and women are not equal, I’ll still stand firm in what I said 🙂. For me, it’s an undeniable fact that women and men are equal in Islam (just a reminder, I’m saying in Islam, and not in KSA or any other country anyone might sight ). Before, anyone get pissed off, just stop for a minute and try to define what is your definition of “equality” is, and does equality mean that in X or Y country, the same number of male and female cab-drivers should exist.
OK, now after I said what I have 🙂 I’ll sign off and enjoy dating my books for the next two days 🙂. I got an offer from someone here 🙂 so I’ll work hard to get high grades (or notes) 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’ll try to stop by AmericanBedu wonderful Blog on Friday 🙂 Pleas everyone be nice/kind with me and don’t welcome me with many stones and throw them all on me 🙂
Peace to all
P.S. I like sometimes to positively tease others, so I hope I don’t offend anyone on the process by mistake.
Oops, I forgot to say something, throwing stones in “Haj” is a practice we inherited it from the Prophet Ibrahim peace be upon him . Also sacrificing animals during Haj/”Eid Al Adha” is another practice came from the Prophet Ibrahim Peace be upon him.
Eid Mubarak from askmuslims.com team member 🙂
Good luck with dating the books Khalid and we all look forward to seeing you back soon!
Khalid, I am fully aware that men and women are equal in the eyes of God. I love pointing that out in discussions. But we all know that the teachings of islam and actually practising the same are two very different things.
There is a lot of cherry-picking going on. Like with forgoing the requirement of four witnesses to adultery in favour of the enjoyment of committing another woman to death.
As I see it, to many people, and I’d say àll ”islamic” countries, cultural and tribal customs, detrimental to women, are preferred to keeping to the teachings of Islam.
I expect you to read this on Friday, as it is high time you fight your bedu-addiction and get back to your studies.
I hope you get top-grades!
Dear Khalid
Both your most recent posts on this topic were interesting. I should have specified that I thought answer #7 to the FAQ on stoning reviewed the Quran vs Hadith topic well (no stoning in Quran; maybe in Hadith). The “locations” link shows a map where stoning is only practised in the UAE
of the Gulf countries (lashing/whipping more common). As an activist site it probably is somewhat biased but the list of contributors suggests a high quality of research (no guarantee of total accuracy though).
In fact DW’s wiki link and your own comment on the “ibrahimic” origin of the haj tradition are probably more directly relevent (and easier to read).
Do enjoy your book dates-I like to tease people who telephone that I am “in bed with Paul” ie a book by an author named Paul.
Chiara
Dear Khalid
Both your most recent posts on this topic were interesting. I should have specified that I thought answer #7 to the FAQ on stoning reviewed the Quran vs Hadith topic well (no stoning in Quran; maybe in Hadith). The “locations” link shows a map where stoning is only practised in the UAE
of the Gulf countries (lashing/whipping and honour killing are more common). As an activist site it probably is somewhat biased but the list of contributors suggests a high quality of research (no guarantee of total accuracy though-they also have campaigns in the mid-North Atlantic).
In fact DW’s wiki link and your own comment on the “ibrahimic” origin of the haj tradition are probably more directly relevent (and easier to read).
Do enjoy your book dates-I like to tease people who telephone that I am “in bed with Paul” ie a book by an author named Paul.
Chiara
Could be worse….
I’m going to bed with Jane Austen now….
I totally love this story, and love the idea of the women gathering, sharing food, watching the children run around, swapping stories – what a lovely celebration of Hajj, while waiting for the men to come home.
Saudi women were my very favorite part of Saudi Arabia.
It’s sad that this does not happen now as it did then but I was so pleased to learn that the tradition was a very active part of Hajj in the earlier times.
cute story! sounds like a good time! thank you for sharing it and your hubby too! ; )
you are very welcome,