DarkStar
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2008
- Messages
- 116
- Reaction score
- 0
Saudi Obama breaks ground in Makkah
* First black man to lead prayers at Kaaba evidence of King Abdullahs efforts to move the kingdom towards openness
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Imam of the Khana Kaaba, Sheik Adil, has broken norms by becoming the first black man to , a report in the New York Times said on Saturday.
Adil is black, and son of a poor Persian Gulf immigrant. Leading prayers at Khana Kaaba is an extraordinary honour, usually reserved for pure-blooded Arabs from Saudi Arabiaa heartland.
He has been dubbed Saudi Obama and many have termed his selection as an evidence of King Abdullahs efforts to move the kingdom towards openness and tolerance.
The king is trying to tell everybody that he wants to rule this land as one nation, with no racism and no segregation, Sheik Adil was quoted by NYT. Any qualified individual, no matter what his colour, no matter where from, will have a chance to be a leader, for his good and his countrys good.
It was Adils skill at reciting the holy Quran that won him the position, but the racial significance of the kings gesture was unmistakable, the paper said.
But Adil said racism was not the fault of Islam, as it preached egalitarianism. Our Islamic history has so many famous black people, he told the paper. It is not like the West.
NYT said skin colour is not the only social obstacle Sheik Adil has overcome. His father came to Saudi Arabia in the 1950s from Ras al Khaima, in what is now the United Arab Emirates, and obtained a job as a low-level government clerk. The family had little money, and after finishing high school, Adil took a job with Saudi Arabian Airlines while attending night classes at . Only later did he study religion, laboriously memorising the Quran and studying Islamic jurisprudence.
In 1984 he passed the government exam to become an imam, and worked briefly at the mosque in the Riyadh airport. Four years later he won a more prominent position as the imam of the King Khalid mosque, a tall white building that is not far from one of the Intelligence Ministrys offices, it said.
Adil reflects the general evolution of Saudi thinking over the last two decades. During the 1980s he met Abdullah Azzam, a leader of the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He initially sympathised with their radical position and anger toward the West. Later, he said, he began to find their views narrow, especially after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the newspaper reported.
Adil was quoted as saying that some people in this country want everyone to be a carbon copy, this is not my way of thinking. You can learn from the person who is willing to criticise, to give a different point of view.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
* First black man to lead prayers at Kaaba evidence of King Abdullahs efforts to move the kingdom towards openness
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Imam of the Khana Kaaba, Sheik Adil, has broken norms by becoming the first black man to , a report in the New York Times said on Saturday.
Adil is black, and son of a poor Persian Gulf immigrant. Leading prayers at Khana Kaaba is an extraordinary honour, usually reserved for pure-blooded Arabs from Saudi Arabiaa heartland.
He has been dubbed Saudi Obama and many have termed his selection as an evidence of King Abdullahs efforts to move the kingdom towards openness and tolerance.
The king is trying to tell everybody that he wants to rule this land as one nation, with no racism and no segregation, Sheik Adil was quoted by NYT. Any qualified individual, no matter what his colour, no matter where from, will have a chance to be a leader, for his good and his countrys good.
It was Adils skill at reciting the holy Quran that won him the position, but the racial significance of the kings gesture was unmistakable, the paper said.
But Adil said racism was not the fault of Islam, as it preached egalitarianism. Our Islamic history has so many famous black people, he told the paper. It is not like the West.
NYT said skin colour is not the only social obstacle Sheik Adil has overcome. His father came to Saudi Arabia in the 1950s from Ras al Khaima, in what is now the United Arab Emirates, and obtained a job as a low-level government clerk. The family had little money, and after finishing high school, Adil took a job with Saudi Arabian Airlines while attending night classes at . Only later did he study religion, laboriously memorising the Quran and studying Islamic jurisprudence.
In 1984 he passed the government exam to become an imam, and worked briefly at the mosque in the Riyadh airport. Four years later he won a more prominent position as the imam of the King Khalid mosque, a tall white building that is not far from one of the Intelligence Ministrys offices, it said.
Adil reflects the general evolution of Saudi thinking over the last two decades. During the 1980s he met Abdullah Azzam, a leader of the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He initially sympathised with their radical position and anger toward the West. Later, he said, he began to find their views narrow, especially after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the newspaper reported.
Adil was quoted as saying that some people in this country want everyone to be a carbon copy, this is not my way of thinking. You can learn from the person who is willing to criticise, to give a different point of view.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
