AP, Abu Dhabi :
Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal on Sunday rejected the idea of sharing the administration of the annual Haj pilgrimage with other Muslim nations, saying Riyadh considers it “a matter of sovereignty” and a “privilege.”
The senior member of the Saudi royal family spoke to The Associated Press (AP) as his country faces mounting criticism in the wake of last month’s disastrous crush of pilgrims outside the holy city of Makkah, which killed over 1,400 people, according to an AP count, making it the deadliest annual pilgrimage on record.
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, which lost the largest number of pilgrims, has accused the kingdom of mismanagement and called for an independent body to oversee the Haj.
The Royal Al Saud family, which governs Saudi Arabia and for which the country is named after, derives enormous prestige and legitimacy from being the caretakers of the Haj and Islam’s holiest sites in Makkah and Medina.
King Salman, in line with past Saudi monarchs, holds the title of “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” in reference to the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) first mosque ever built in Medina.
Oversight of these holy places and the Haj “is a matter of sovereignty and privilege and service,” Prince Turki said.
“The kingdom over the years, having gotten over the awful times when pilgrims couldn’t guarantee their travels to the Haj in the old days and all the other factors of disease and crowds and housing and so on, we’ll not give up that privilege or that distinction of being the servants of the two holy places,” he said.
Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal on Sunday rejected the idea of sharing the administration of the annual Haj pilgrimage with other Muslim nations, saying Riyadh considers it “a matter of sovereignty” and a “privilege.”
The senior member of the Saudi royal family spoke to The Associated Press (AP) as his country faces mounting criticism in the wake of last month’s disastrous crush of pilgrims outside the holy city of Makkah, which killed over 1,400 people, according to an AP count, making it the deadliest annual pilgrimage on record.
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, which lost the largest number of pilgrims, has accused the kingdom of mismanagement and called for an independent body to oversee the Haj.
The Royal Al Saud family, which governs Saudi Arabia and for which the country is named after, derives enormous prestige and legitimacy from being the caretakers of the Haj and Islam’s holiest sites in Makkah and Medina.
King Salman, in line with past Saudi monarchs, holds the title of “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” in reference to the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) first mosque ever built in Medina.
Oversight of these holy places and the Haj “is a matter of sovereignty and privilege and service,” Prince Turki said.
“The kingdom over the years, having gotten over the awful times when pilgrims couldn’t guarantee their travels to the Haj in the old days and all the other factors of disease and crowds and housing and so on, we’ll not give up that privilege or that distinction of being the servants of the two holy places,” he said.
