1100 corpses for Allah
Sigh. Religion is good for people.
The official death toll from this year’s Hajj pilgrimage has soared to almost 500 and the true toll could be more than double that as reports emerged that as many as 600 Egyptian worshipers perished on the route to Mecca amid extreme heat.
At least 14 Malaysians, 165 Indonesians, 68 Jordanians, 35 Pakistanis, 35 Tunisians, 11 Iranians and 98 Indians have died, according to authorities in each country. A further 22 Jordanians are hospitalized and 16 are still missing, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.
Dozens of Iranians have also been hospitalized due to heatstroke and other conditions, the Iranian Red Crescent said Wednesday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Why doesn’t their god intervene? Allah could make the haj optional, or forbid it altogether, or make a rule that it has to happen in the cooler months. Hell, he’s Allah, he could just turn on the cosmic air conditioning. Or sprinkle everyone with lovely cooling water.
The death tolls are expected to rise much further, as Saudi Arabia and Egypt have yet to release official figures. Additionally, the governments are only aware of pilgrims who have registered and traveled to Mecca as part of their country’s quota – more deaths are feared among unregistered pilgrims.
This is not a benevolent god.
Hajj season changes every year according to the Islamic calendar and this year it fell in June, one of the hottest months in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia advised pilgrims against performing the “stoning of the devil” ritual between certain hours after temperatures reached an extreme 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).
Hajj officials asked pilgrims to carry umbrellas and stay hydrated amid the harsh conditions while the Saudi army deployed more than 1,600 personnel with medical units specifically for heatstroke and 30 rapid response teams. Another 5,000 health and first aid volunteers took part.
Or they could just skip the whole damn thing, but nooooooooo, that would never do. Allah made the rules back in the 7th century and Allah does not revise. Shut up and die, submissives.
Changes have been made in Arctic nations where the Ramadan fast could last for 22 hours, not the average of 12.
Of course, Allah didn’t make the changes, that was up to humans, even the Mullahs like to eat at some point every day. And allowances are made for pregnant women and children during Ramadan. Again, the Mullahs know how to ensure their number of worshippers doesn’t decline.