Mecca – A false report has been circulating on the internet claiming that a group of Jewish pilgrims performed Umrah in the grand mosque of Mecca recently.
A video along with an unverified Urdu voice-note, seemingly of a Pakistani dialect claimed that Saudi Arabia has permitted followers of Judaism to perform Umrah in the grand mosque of Mecca. The claimant also quoted Pakistan’s late radical preacher Israr Ahmed, who claimed that ‘Arabs will be doomed’, and ‘Jews are accursed nation’.
As a matter of fact, the pilgrims in the video are not Jews but Sufis, apparently from the Turkish or Uzbek background, who were making Sufi ‘dhikr’ or God’s remembrance while making strange sounds.
The Jewish Kabbalah and Sufi mysticism share a lot of commonalities in terms of mystic rituals—which has eventually confused South-Asian Muslims to conclude Sufis to be Jews.
Jewish law permits its followers to face east towards Jerusalem during prayers, while Muslims have to face west towards Mecca during five daily prayers. In fact, Mizrah in the Jewish synagogues face east, while Mihrab in the Muslim mosques face west.
Furthermore, disinformation campaigns possibly harm the peace prospects of the region, hence, people are requested to verify the social media content before promptly relaying it to others.
