Hajj 2003

February 8, 2003

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/107815_mecca08.shtml

On February 8, 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "the Islamic School of Seattle created a mini-Mecca yesterday, with more than 60 students and parents participating in a model hajj, the annual pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia... As nearly 2 million Muslims descend on Mecca today for the five-day pilgrimage, the Islamic School conducted its yearly re-enactment of the pilgrims' journey. For the first time, the school invited the news media to view the event, which lasted 75 minutes... 'We're commemorating what's happening with other Muslims thousands and thousands of miles away,' said Samia El-Moslimany, whose youngest children -- 11-year-old Sulayman Dehlawi and 9-year-old Rilla Alhadar -- participated... 'We're sharing with our American brethren that this is something happening to us,' El-Moslimany said. 'It's not just something happening in a foreign country.'"