Do you think

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non-muslims should be allowed to enter Makkah and Madinah? Give reasons.

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i just recently read this beautiful article … and in the end this guy wrote!!

“Many would disagree when I say that even non-Muslims should experience Hajj. It’s a universal process of understanding the human needs, the importance of being humane, the feeling of being ordinary and nothing special and the longing for being together. It’s a much higher level of spiritual journeys than most will ever see and experience.”

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^ But that doesn't mean non-muslims would want to perform Hajj. Why would they? They'd like to visit Makkah as tourists perhaps but not as pilgrims.

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yeap as tourists! ... not actually performing it! ...

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if there is any religious reason........you can't really argue with it......
otherwise....... they could be allowed......

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wow

I don’t know if they would want to perform Hajj…not sure about that.

I have met a few people who fast during Ramadan though.

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I'd say no...only for the fear that it might turn into a "spring break" kind of spot...

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^I was wondering the same thing as Sara among other points.

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i dont see any religious prohibition. can someone more knowledgeable provide reason?

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**as far as i know, Ibraheem [a.s.] had asked Allah in the form of a du'aa that May Allah make this city a city of peace and free of ALL forms of idolatry practices and make this bastion of ONE God [waHdaaniyat] and Allah accepted it!

wallaho 'aalam bissawaab!**

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I doubt that'd happen. Makkah/Madinah aren't exactly inviting in that regard.

Allowing non-Muslims doesn't have to be problematic - the Western/Wailing Wall with all its religious protocols allows non-Jewish visitors, no issue there. If it were allowed, which it won't as long as the Saudis are the self-righteous custodians, there will be so many hoops to jump through in the form of aggressive security clearances and behavioral guidelines, no one will want to go and the ones who do will be on their best behavior. At the very least there's always the religious police to beat you with a stick if you're out of line, so I don't see a problem.

When they won't even allow single Muslim women to perform umrah/hajj alone, letting non-Muslims in seems far fetched.

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So before saudi's rule..........were non-muslims allowed??

or even in prophet's time? were non-muslims allowed in Makkah?

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This is based on Surah at-Tauba (also called Surah Bara’ah) Ayah number 28
“O you who believe, the Mushriks are impure indeed, so let them not approach Al-Masjid-ul-Haram after this year. And if you apprehend poverty, then, Allah shall, if He wills, make you self-sufficient with His grace. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.”

Descended upon Muhammad salalah-o-alayhe-wasallam, in the month of zilhaj, 9th Hijri, after Hazrat Abu Bakar (R.A.) was sent as ameer-e-hajj with arround 300 pilgrims. when this ayah was revealed Hazrat Ali (R.A.) was then sent to go to Makkah and make an announcement about it.

there are three different views of aa-imma about the effect of this ayah, the complete ban-on-non-muslims-entring-into-haram encompasses all three views (except Imam Malik’s view of banning non-muslims’ entry in all masajid) which are following…

  1. According to the view of Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal and Imam Shafi’i this verse has banned the entry of the non- Muslims not only to the Holy Mosque, but also to the whole precincts of Haram including the city of Makkah.

  2. Imam Malik extends this prohibition to all the masjids of the world. He says that the prohibition is based on the impurity of the non-Muslims and every masjid in every part of the world deserves to be immune from such impurity.

  3. Imam Abu Hanifah interprets the verse in a quite different way. He says that it is not the non-Muslims that have been banned by this verse, but the context of the verse suggests that the non-Muslims have been forbidden from performing Hajj and Umrah. Before the revelation of this verse, the pagans of Arabia used to perform Hajj and Umrah. Even in the 9th year after Hijrah, when Abu Bakr (R.A) was made the leader of the Hajj a large number of the pagans of Arabia performed Hajj with him.

On this occasion the Surah of Bara’ah was revealed and their Hajj and Umrah was totally banned with effect from the next year. The Holy Prophet ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam ) sent Sayyidna ‘Ali (R.A) to announce his prohibition in the plain of ‘Arafat where he conveyed the injunctions of the Surah al-Bara’ah to all present in that Hajj. On that occasion he did not announce that the non-Muslims cannot enter the Holy Mosque after his year. Instead, he announced :

“No Associator shall perform Hajj after this year.” Keeping in view the context of the verse of Surah al-Bara’ah and this historical background, Imam Abu Hanifah has not taken the verse as a prohibition against the entry of non-Muslims into the limits of Haram or into the Holy Mosque, but has confined the prohibition to the performance of Hajj or Umrah only.

the above three points are taken from Redirecting...

i could not find any reference (did not try much) about why its applied on Madinah-al-munawwara as well… now i’m just speculating that, because there is an authentic hadees where Rasulallah S.A.W. made dua regarding making Madinah almunawwara also a blessed city just like Makkah almukarrama (in some narrations it says even more blessed than that!) hence ulema karam decided to give it similar status of purity and banned all non-muslims from entering there as well…

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I tend to agree with Imam Abu hanifa ( RA) 's approach here !

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I think one universall trait would be a required for all people visiting another place that is not thier own. Respect.

Like when I visit the local Temple, Masjid, Church, Synagougue, Stupa, Lantern house or any other place of worship I try not to Faris Udeen, nor Mr Khan, or Sir whatever... I simply walk in as a human being and let my spiritual self go. I lose my mind and come to my senses... just like one should do to keep calm in any trial.

If people who wish to visit a holy place come as true pilgrims or seekers of the thruth, or simply as people who willl come in a respectfull manner as observers of something ancient and beautifull... then by all means they are entirely welcome.

But if anyone has a holier than thou attitude, or a choudary sahab attitude or comes as a proffesional or as a tourist to "have thier own way" then that would be untolerable.

In terms of the actuall Hajj ceremony itself then I agree with Imam Abu Hanifa on this. Hajj is only for Muslims as is Umrah. Though all may visit outside this time frame as simply respected guests to Allah's house.

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^I absolutely agree.

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does anybody if it was prohbitied in old times (after the proephet's time) up untill saudi rule??

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I might tend to disagree here but for some reason I think the sanctity of the entire place wouldnt just be the same if people started coming as tourists. Respect is the utmost requirement and not every tourist would hold Haram pak or Masjid-e-nabwi in the same reverence as us Muslims.

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i think when we know about when it all started (the ban on Umra/ Hajj for non-muslims) at least i believe that its a continuous practice until reported otherwise (i'm only talking about Hajj/Umra for non-muslims) not a blanket ban on entrance to the holy cities...

i would rather ask if anyone know of any reported case/ incident where a non-muslim ever performed Hajj/ Umra after 9 Hijri? (needless to mention, we are not talking about fake identities of course)

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Has anyone here actually been there lately?? The place is crawling with pilgrims even during the "off-season", how are they going to accommodate non-muslims touring through?