Blog Post #6

When I first think of the Holy Land, I think of Jerusalem and I remember the stories in the Bible: the Old Testament and Jesus' life and ministry. Not only was Jesus born in Bethlehem only six miles south of Jerusalem, but a lot of his preaching was in Jerusalem and other nearby cities. On the other hand, Jews and Muslims occupy the majority of the land.

Stated in this video, Muslims are instructed to take a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah), Saudi Arabia, which was where the prophet Muhammad and the Muslim religion were born. The pilgrimage is called the Hajj, which all Muslims with good health and sufficient funds are supposed to complete at least once in their life. It surprises me to hear that less than 10 percent of all Muslims actually make the pilgrimage since, in the photo, there are around two million people. During the Hajj, the Muslim nation is directed to walk around the Ka'ba shrine seven times along with various other tasks.

The Muslim religion is predominantly in Middle Eastern countries including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and many more. Indonesia, however, is the largest Muslim country by population containing around 15 percent of the world's Muslims. When people mention Muslims, one of our first instincts is to think of the Arab population. The speaker, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb noted that most of the Muslim population is not even from Arab countries and vice versa. The fact that most of Saudi Arabia is mostly Islamic really affects the culture, especially in the city of Mecca.

The religious beliefs and customs for the Islamic people really affect the overall culture in the area. Mecca is the Holy Land for Muslims where no one else is allowed to enter the Ihram, because it is the spiritual state of purity the Muslims enters when going to the Ka'ba. The video describes just how important the Hajj is to Muslims and through the video you can see how serious some of the Muslims take their beliefs. Besides the Hajj, the Islam religion has four other pillars the Muslims are supposed to follow including the belief in Allah, praying five times a day while facing Mecca, charitable donations, and fasting during Ramadan. Muslims who follow each of these five pillars must be extremely devoted. Each day of following the five pillars affects how the Muslim people would act and look at life. The strictness of the religion can affect the decisions the followers of Islam make. For example, according to our textbook, Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol and instructed to lead moderate lives. Also, there are two types of Muslims that differ culturally. The Sunni dominate with 73 percent of the region's Muslims and the Shiites carry 23 percent. The differences between the two are in how power is passed on. The Shiites favor the passing of power through Muhammad's own family, where as the Sunnis uphold the passing of power through established clergy. Overall, the religion in the Southwest Asia and North African region really affects the culture throughout the land.