In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
“.. And whoever goes forth from his house towards Allah and His Messenger, and then death overtakes him, his reward is indeed with Allah…”
The catastrophic disaster of Eid al-Adha in the holy land of Mina, which resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of guests of Allah, has caused deep sorrow and concern: sorrow for a large number of believers and pilgrims of Allah of various nationalities who lost their lives, and concern for the fate of administration of the Two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina.
Given that the Mina region has witnessed numerous tragedies for pilgrims, the basic question by Muslims around the world is that why no decisive measures are taken for the prevention of such events? And why even worse and bitterer events with more casualties occur every year? Why the lives and the health of this huge number of pilgrims who go to Hajj are not considered so important?
In yesterday's incident, more than anything, negligence towards the security of the pilgrims is significant; and the question is: if the blocking of the paths was necessary, why pilgrims were not notified of alternative paths? Why no guideposts were arranged to guide the pilgrims who were too weary after one night of lodge in the land of Mash’ar? Why not enough security forces were present to control the large population? Why there were no quick medical or relief services for the victims?
If initial efforts were accomplished to help the wounded pilgrims, the death toll was surely lower. Why this year, when the number of pilgrims was less than other years, the hospitality was like this? And why the government of Saudi Arabia is bragging rather than adopting a sense of duty and responsibility?
In addition to Mina, there is another example of negligence towards the security of the pilgrims, which is the development project that is being continued in Mecca during the Hajj where the frightening shadows of cranes and unstable structures are being seen over millions of pilgrims and two weeks ago killed dozens of them.
It is much regrettable that the Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia officially confessed the negligence of the construction work on safety issues!
The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly appeals to Islamic scholars, muftis, heads of Islamic states, human rights organizations, international organizations, particularly the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which agreed to reduce the number of pilgrims, and the great Islamic Ummah to move collectively to shift the administration of pilgrimage and pilgrims from the monopoly of one single country to all Muslim countries in order to use the capacity and facilities of all Muslims to put an end to these tragic disasters.
The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly expresses its condolences on this sad tragedy to the Holy Spirit of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.), his Infallible Household (peace be upon them) and to the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei and all survivors and mourners across the Muslim world.
We further pray to Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon the victims and wish speedy recovery for all the injured pilgrims. O’ Allah! We complain to you on the absence of our Holy Prophet, and on the nonappearance of our Imam, and on the high number of our enemies and low number of ourselves and severe conditions and attacks against us!
The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly
25 September 2015
The head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said at least 1,300 people have been killed in a crush during Hajj pilgrimage rituals outside Mecca.
He added that the overall death toll is expected to exceed 1,500.
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