Tag Archive for: islamnews

Bodies of 90 Iranian pilgrims killed in Saudi Arabia’s Mina tragedy arrived in Tehran on Tuesday morning.

The flight carrying the bodies of 90 Iranian Hajj pilgrims killed in the recent tragic incident in Mina, near the Saudi city of Mecca, has landed in Tehran.

During two previous flights, bodies of 218 Iranian Hajj pilgrims killed in Mina tragedy have delivered to Tehran.

An official repatriation ceremony was held on Saturday morning, October 3, at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport in the presence of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and a number of high-ranking officials.

People around the country have held funeral ceremonies for the victims the bodies were delivered to their hometowns.

The crush occurred on September 24 after two large masses of pilgrims fused together.

Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed in the calamity, but officials with Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization has announcd the number to be over 4000 people. 465 Iranians, lost their lives in the tragedy.

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Informed sources told Arabic-language al-Ahd news agency that King Salman is now in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) section of King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Saudi capital.

The sources also said that given the Saudi king’s unstable and aggravating health conditions, officials have ceased plans to transfer him to US hospitals.

King Salman, 80, is thought to have Alzheimer’s or dementia and the government is practically administered by his Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef.

According to witnesses, his exact state of dementia is a source of speculation but he is known to have held cogent conversations as recently as last October. He can also forget what he said minutes ago, or faces he has known all his life. This is typical of the disease.

Sources close to the Saudi monarchy revealed earlier this year that the number of hospital visits by King Salman in the last few months has increased and that he did not walk around, as he did before.

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Glasgow Central Mosque has been witnessing a surge in the number of Scottish people reverting to Islam, a phenomenon noticed in mosques across the country, OnIslam reported.

“I’d done a degree in comparative religion and had to analyze all the religious texts,” Hannah, a 25-year-old administrator from Glasgow who recently reverted told The Sunday Herald.

Hannah is one of about 200 Scots who take the decision to revert to Islam annually at Glasgow Central Mosque.

Her conversion was shared online by the Glasgow Central Mosque along with others including 20-year-old Jade from the Shetland Isles, and Katie, also 20 and an administration worker from Glasgow, who made her Shahada last month.

With the increasing number of reverts, Edinburgh central mosque says it has now started support groups for new Muslims.

The total number of reverts is not known, but according to a report by Faith Matters, 5,200 people now join the UK-wide Muslim population of three million every year.

Scotland’s community is significantly smaller at 90,000 people, over one-third of whom live in Glasgow.

“We are seeing an influx, particularly in the number of women expressing an interest in Islam.

Many found out more about Islam that led them to different conclusions,” Rizy Mohammad, a coordinator at the Glasgow Central Mosque, said.

“There is also the spiritual dimension. They’ve been part of the material world, done the shopping thing and now they are looking for a deeper connection.”

The decision to revert to Islam has not been easy to many Scottish reverts, especially with media focus on extremist voices which ruin the image of the faith.

“When a person takes the Shahada they are treated like a superstar and everyone wants to know their story,” Dawud Duncan, originally from Oban, who became Muslim nine years ago, said.

Duncan, who now lives in Glasgow, hosts an online radio program for reverts and also aims to set up a support and advocacy group.

“New Muslims have so much to offer the Muslim community and Scotland,” said Duncan.

“This would include a fresh perspective and a deeper understanding of the cultural issues our society faces. Converts find it easier to explain Islam to a Scottish audience.”

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Iranian Intelligence Minister said on Mon. the Islamic Republic has so far held various sessions on pursuing the Mina tragedy during which the Ministry of Intelligence has become required to collect documentation to probe into the cause of the incident.

Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi made the remarks on Monday at a funeral service held in the southern city of Shiraz in Fars Province for a number of the Iranian pilgrims that were killed in the Mina tragedy near the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

He added the Intelligence Ministry has begun its work to determine whether the incident had been deliberate or not.

“The Mina incident is not an issue that only Iran is concerned with, but rather it is a key issue for the world of Islam and 22 mourning Islamic countries,” said Alavi, adding the tragedy has an ‘international dimension’ that Iran and other Islamic nations must work together to pursue.

“The vice president for legal affairs is also making arrangements to file a lawsuit with international legal entities on behalf of the bereaved families of the victims to urge proper action on the tragic event,” the intelligence minister said.

Alavi further criticized Saudi authorities’ incompetence and imprudence for failing to show a proper response to the Mina incident which had subsequently worsened the depth of the tragedy, saying if the Saudi government had cooperated with Muslim nations in tending to the injured and identifying the victims’ bodies, it could have lessened the extent of the tragedy and the Muslims’ outrage.

“The Leader’s strong stance in regard to the Mina incident was the turning point which forced Saudi officials to express their condolences to the Iranian nation,” said Alavi.

Last week, Iran’s Leader Ayat. Khameni said the country’s possible response to Saudi misconduct and disrespect toward Iranian pilgrims and victims will be “firm and severe.”

The human crush of September 24 in Mina, Saudi Arabia, during the Hajj pilgrimage rituals, claimed lives of about 4,700 people, including 464 Iranians, according to Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization.

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Abdel Rahman Abdullah was struck in the chest by Israeli fire at the Aida refugee camp, the sources said.

He is the second Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers over the past 24 hours as clashes have spread.

On Sunday night, an 18-year-old Palestinian was killed during clashes in Tulkarem in the West Bank.

Clashes have spread after two recent attacks killed four Israelis and wounded a two-year-old child. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged “a fight to the death against Palestinian terror” and announced new security measures.

Palestinian youths throwing stones and firebombs have faced off against Israeli security forces using both live rounds and rubber bullets. Jewish settlers have also clashed with Palestinians.

There have been fears that the sporadic violence could spin out of control, with some warning of the risk of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

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