New Mecca luxury development 16, October 2009
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Islam.Tags: Islam, Mecca, Mecca development
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Plans are afoot to build a behemoth super-luxury hotel overlooking Islam’s most important site at Mecca in Saudi Arabia. As one might expect, the hotel will be at the very top end of the spectrum replete with fantastically expensive suites, 24-hour butler service and what every Haaj-goer needs, a chocolate room where chefs will prepare “bespoke pralines and truffles”.
Whilst such uuber-luxurious hotels and gimmicks may annoy some for their unbridled and sheer ostentation, it is part and parcel of today’s capitalist world: it may not be nice but it is, is its own way, necessary. However, to have such luxuries at Mecca is just wrong. Mecca is the end point of pilgrimage for the world’s Muslims. As in Christianity, a pilgrimage is supposed to be an arduous experience giving people time for reflection and contemplation: it is not supposed to be a luxurious jaunt for hand-made chocolates and waiter service.
As far as I see this, developments like this – for which historical buildings are having to be torn down – are utterly against the grain and true meaning of Islam as was the decision to start flights to Lourdes, the Christian Pilgrimage site in France. Certainly in Christianity, and to a lesser though still important extent in Islam, the journey is the key thing. Yes, praying at Lourdes itself is important, but the travails to get there proving your dedication etc etc are just as important (if not more important) than the ceremony at the end itself. Skipping out the journey for convenience’s sake is to woefully misunderstand the nature of the pilgrimage in the first place.
The Gulf blog 
[…] being a test of faith etc – that the new 6, 7 or 20 star hotel in Mecca will have a chocolate sommelier. It just seems wholly wrong to […]
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