Saudi Arabia gives rights to CNN for Haj transmission

Qudsia Kadri

Watching the live transmission of Haj on CNN, was surprising to say the least. Surprising because the Saudi Monarchy decided that the rights to broadcast the live transmission of Haj was going to be projected as a positive display of Muslim unity and enlightened coverage of the Kaaba and the Muslim procedure of performing Haj. Well their decision seems to have fallen short of expectations of Muslims watching the world over.
The other bidder for the live transmission was Al-Jazeera, the new English broadcast being viewed all over the globe except in the United States-again a blatant violation of the so called freedom and tolerance, a violation of the right to free speech. (Abraham Lincoln must be tossing at the hypocrisy of the American dream of freedom!). Al-Jazeera being run and programmes being anchored by many well known personalities, many of whom are former BBC and CNN newscasters, is one of the most watched channels around the globe today. Coming back to the CNN live broadcast, I was shocked to see the anchor (her name not quite determining her religion or nationality) who sounded aggressive and somewhat presumptuous while narrating the background of the Muslim ritual of pilgrimage. At the onset of her narration we were quite sure that she referred to Muslims gathering from all over the world to worship "the God's" in the Kaaba. One can just hope that our ears were playing tricks on our senses but listening to her ranting in a contemptuous manner left a feeling of disgust and sadness at the selection of the media by the protectors of the house of Kaaba. We assume here that money could not have been the only deciding factor. This American influence so blatantly being adhered to by the Saudi royal's, could at least have been monitored and discussed along with the narrator's credentials and she should have stuck to a written description of the Haj
rituals along with her analysis and conjectures. It's time we restrict our enlightened advocacy of Islam to each Muslim's individual beliefs and interpretation of his or her practice but when we are as Muslims projecting our highest form of worship and "Ibadat" to Allah, the custodians of the Holy house of Kaaba must ensure the sanctity of Makkah and Madina both in letter and spirit.