"Hijacking Islam
Blogger Saudi Jeans writes that "those Wahabbis are really hijacking Islam." He links to this article in the online Arab News, in which an Arab woman writes about the changing treatment of women at the Grand Mosque:
From Yanbu, where my family lived years ago, it was an easy drive on the weekend to go to Makkah. We’d visit my mother-in-law and all the aunties and other relatives. We’d pray at the Grand Mosque. Then, we’d shop. I never thought twice about hopping in the car and driving to Makkah...
Then, suddenly, about a decade ago things began to change at the Grand Mosque. Yes, the numbers coming for Umrah and Haj seemed much larger. But that cannot explain the difference in the mood and behavior of the crowds. Circumambulating the Kaaba began to require the skills of a wrestler. After suffering the pushing, elbowing and jostling of the crowd, I would return home and usually find that I’d been seriously bruised...
Then, five years ago in the spring, an incident happened in the mosque. Even now when I think of it, tears come to my eyes. It was during the Maghrib prayer. I was standing at the end of a row with my eyes closed, listening to the imam recite. There was a tap on my shoulder. “Ghati Wajhik,” came an insistent female whisper. My eyes flew open. I was being told to cover my face during the prayer. I stared straight ahead. Again the instruction came and again I ignored it. The woman standing behind me moved away. I was not left alone for long though.
While I was on my knees, two women covered from head to toe, except for their eyes, appeared at my side. They had some sort of badge sewn to the front of their hijab. One grasped my right wrist and ordered me in clear English, “Sister, cover your face.” I was shocked. Around me, despite the interruption, other women were trying to continue in their prayer but inquisitive looks were being thrown my way. To make a long and ugly story short, I spent the entire remainder of the prayer on my knees receiving a lecture. I could not escape, as making an aggressive move in the Holy Mosque was unacceptable to me.
I have been unable to return to the Grand Mosque since that day. Every time I consider the idea, I am overcome with a feeling of panic. I have shared my experience with many other women in the hope of finding solace. Sadly, too often the women relate to me accounts that are just as unpleasant or even worse than mine. Rudeness and ignorance should find no foothold in the holiest place in Islam, but somehow it seems that certain people have forgotten the basic tenets of our faith.
The Wahabbis, as Princeton's Michael Scott Doran has put it, "spend a lot of time defining who is and who is not a believer. They start dividing up the bad guys into all sorts of different kinds of bad guys." The Wahabbis do not care that a highly articulated definition of apostasy is far tougher on thoughtful believers than on non-believers. The question is, will Wahabbism's bright lines strengthen Islam even as they harden it, or will they drive the umma into schism?"
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