Hajj begins in Saudi Arabia as pilgrims face regional war fears
Muslims have begun the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the region remains unsettled by the Iran war. Saudi authorities said last week that 1.51 million pilgrims had arrived from outside the kingdom, a figure that is 11,000 higher than last year. The pilgrimage is taking place amid concerns about renewed conflict, air traffic disruption and higher travel costs.The row of pilgrims began the first day of Hajj in Mecca, where they gathered at the Grand Mosque and performed tawaf around the Kaaba. They then travelled to Mina, about 5km away, where they are due to spend the night... [Continue Reading]
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Fear the Shia, Arm the Sunnis: The Uncomfortable Numbers Behind America’s War Narrative
“When fear is managed carefully enough, a nation can be taught to look away from the blood on the floor and stare instead at the shadow on the wall.” A friend of mine, whose name I will not reveal because he asked me not to, sat across from me over dinner and placed a question on the table that would not leave me alone. He was born into a Muslim Shia background, and for the angle of this article, that detail matters, not because I wish to reduce a man to a sect, but because sect has become one of... [Continue Reading]

