By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have been engaged in a huge religious and political conflict.
The conflict surrounds the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. In that part of the world, one cannot differentiate between religious and political issues.
Saudi Arabia deported 1000 female Nigerian pilgrims from Mecca. The Saudis claim that the women were not chaperoned. After the issue had been resolved, Saudi Arabia airlifted all of those women who were deported and wanted to return to Mecca, back to Mecca. And they brought back even more.
It was a great insult to Nigeria done without consulting Nigeria. For the Saudis, it was a swift bureaucratic move. For Nigeria, it was an act of humiliation. Saudi Arabia publicly embarrassed Nigeria and their pilgrims, known as Hajji.
A new policy also emerged, one that the Nigerians agree with. The new policy as articulated by the Saudi National Hajj Commission says that:
"Female pilgrims who are above 45 years of age can perform the annual Hajj without guarantor, while those below the 45 years should have their guarantors indicated in their passports in the name of their respective Pilgrims Welfare Board's managements."
In the end 23,000 Nigerian Hajjis were brought to Mecca after this conflict as a peace offering to Nigeria.
For the time being the conflict between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia is on hold.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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