Muslims are, unless prevented by certain limitations, to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, in imitation of Muhammad. The pilgrimage consists of pagan rights that have been appended, without any real thinking, into the rites of Islam. They consist of running from one hill to another, walking around the Ka'ba seven times, throwing stones to scare the devil, drinking water from the Zamzam fountain, and animal sacrifice. The reason behind these strange pagan rites has been lost in time. Nevertheless, Muhammad adopted them wholesale, jettisoning only the polytheistic beliefs that they enshrined. The whole thing is arbitrary and irrational. Stupid, in fact, because it has no reason other than that Muhammad did it and commanded it.
Indeed, famous Muslim theologian Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali* wrote in the Ihya'ul ulum al-din, the "Revival of Religious Sciences", frequently considered his greatest work: "The pilgrimage (hajj) is the most irrational thing in Islam. There we perform gestures and rites that are absolutely irrational."** He suggested that complying with these irrational rites was indicative of raw, naked faith. I say that compliance with these rites is indicative of raw, naked stupidity, since it requires faith in Muhammad, faith which is irrational given his life and his message and their unreasonableness.
Indeed, famous Muslim theologian Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali* wrote in the Ihya'ul ulum al-din, the "Revival of Religious Sciences", frequently considered his greatest work: "The pilgrimage (hajj) is the most irrational thing in Islam. There we perform gestures and rites that are absolutely irrational."** He suggested that complying with these irrational rites was indicative of raw, naked faith. I say that compliance with these rites is indicative of raw, naked stupidity, since it requires faith in Muhammad, faith which is irrational given his life and his message and their unreasonableness.
The Map of Rites of Pilgrimage
Hundreds of Thousands of Irrational Men and Women
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*ابو حامد محمد ابن محمد الغزالی
**Vol. 1, bk. 7, chap. 3, sec. 2 (Cairo: 1939), 272 ff, and (Beirut: Dar al-kutub al-'ilmiyya, 1992), 315, quoted in Samir Khalil Samir, S.J., 111 Questions on Islam (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2008), 179-80.
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