# Pilgrimage for Muslims born in and residing in Mecca and Medina

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilgrimage-for-muslims-born-in-and-residing-in-mecca-and-medina/765595>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 10, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilgrimage-for-muslims-born-in-and-residing-in-mecca-and-medina/765595 "2016-09-10T23:58:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilgrimage-for-muslims-born-in-and-residing-in-mecca-and-medina/765595/41 "2016-09-22T05:33:53Z")

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It’s short, I’m guessing.

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**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilgrimage-for-muslims-born-in-and-residing-in-mecca-and-medina/765595/42 "2016-09-22T06:15:35Z")

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> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#):
>
> Many of my student who live in Mecca and Medina have not yet made Hajj. They tell me that they want to wait until they get married so they can take their wives. One young man pointed out that he was always busy during Hajj, he worked driving ambulances and handing out water and so on.  
> I give them hell for this of course.

Why would you give them grief? It seems they already explained their rationale, not that they owe you any explanation. Of course there are other considerations besides living in the vicinity.

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**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilgrimage-for-muslims-born-in-and-residing-in-mecca-and-medina/765595/43 "2016-09-22T16:31:14Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Here, for instance, Ramira chides us for thinking that Muslim clergymen need qualifications as do Christian clergymen.

And?

There is no idea of clergy in the religion itself.

The government bureaucracies can find it useful to “license” persons, but this is not a religious action, it is a government regulation action by a secular power. There is no “ordinations”

The only religious qualification inside the religion itself is to have the respect of the community or a set of believers to be named the Imam.

So the Saudi bureaucracy, needing some way to feel comfortable that there are not fakers trying to take the valuable (limited) Hajj visas, have a secular screening of some officer of a mosque (which is in places like the USA I think self-mandating, other places there may be the governmental regulation of the secular powers).

Not difficult to understand I think

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