Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah farewelled in simple burial in unmarked grave; world leaders pay tribute
இதுதான் இஸ்லாம்
சவுதி மன்னர் அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டதை கவனித்தீர்களா?….
அத்தனை நாட்டு அதிபர்களுக்கும் அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்படவில்லை….
அரசு விடுமுறை எதுவும் விடப்படவில்லை….
உடலை கொண்டு செல்ல அலங்கார சவப்பெட்டிகளோ, அலங்கார ஊர்திகளோ இல்லை….
நாடு முழுவதும் அஞ்சலி போஸ்டர்கள் ஒட்டப்படவில்லை….
மக்களின் இயல்பு வாழ்க்கை பாதிக்கும் அளவுக்கு, இறுதி ஊர்வலம் நடைபெறவில்லை….
கொடிக்கம்பங்கள் அரைக்கம்பத்தில் பறக்க விடப்படவில்லை….
இறுதி ஊர்வலத்தில் வன்முறை இல்லை….
கடையடைப்புகள் இல்லை….
ராணுவ மரியாதை இல்லை…
துப்பாக்கி குண்டு முழக்கங்கள் இல்லை….
தனி அடக்கஸ்தலம் இல்லை…
அடக்கஸ்தலத்தில் ஜோடனைகள் இல்லை….
அடக்கஸ்தலத்தில் கட்டுமானங்கள் இல்லை….
பாடையில் கொண்டு வந்தனர்.
பள்ளிவாசலில் தொழுகை நடத்தினர்.
புதிய மன்னரும் ‘மய்யித்’தை சுமந்தார்.
அரகமில்லாமல் அடக்கிச் சென்றனர்…
இதுவே இஸ்லாம்..
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah farewelled
in simple burial in unmarked grave;
world leaders pay tribute
One of the richest men in the history of the world, Abdullah was carried in a simple white shroud to an unmarked grave in a Riyadh cemetery where many of his commoner subjects rest, in keeping with ascetic traditions.
The Saudi state school of Wahhabi Sunni Islam holds ostentatious displays of grief or mourning to be sinful, akin to idolatry.
There was no official mourning period in Saudi Arabia and flags around the kingdom all flew at full mast.
Despite his apparent popularity among his subjects, there were no spontaneous gatherings on city streets to mark his passing.
Government offices, closed for the Middle East’s normal Friday-Saturday weekend, will open as usual on Sunday.
A simple burial for king Abdullah
While the afternoon prayer that preceded Abdullah’s burial took place before ranks of Muslim leaders, Saudi princes, powerful clerics and billionaire Arab businessmen, his body was transported to the mosque in a city ambulance.
It was borne through crowds on a simple stretcher, laid in front of the faithful at prayer and then carried by Abdullah’s male relatives to the graveyard, where it was laid in the ground with no ceremony.
It was a change for the king who, during his lifetime, travelled in the luxury one might expect of the absolute monarch of the world’s leading oil exporter.
In a conservative Islamic kingdom notorious for human rights infringements, King Abdullah cautiously pushed for gradual economic and social reform.
But compared to the opulent style of many of his brothers and nephews, Abdullah lived frugally, choosing to holiday in a desert camp instead of brash Mediterranean palaces.
He was also known for curbing some of his family’s excesses once in power, ordering princes to pay their phone bills and book seats on the national airline in advance.
In Wahhabism’s austere reading of Islam, elaborate shrines contradict the ideal of egalitarianism that should unite all Muslims.
Some Wahhabi followers interpreted the tenet as requiring the destruction of shrines to Sufi saints and Shiite imams across the Middle East.
Abdullah’s predecessors and other half-brothers have also been interred in unmarked graves in the al-Aoud cemetery where he was buried on Friday, as well as in other simple graveyards in the kingdom’s other cities.
The Al Saud family has also always striven to distinguish itself from European monarchies, preferring to hark to the tribal roots of its leadership in which ordinary Saudis theoretically remain able to petition kings.
Nevertheless, there is no shortage of monuments to Abdullah in Saudi Arabia: his name adorns a giant university in Jeddah, a scholarship fund, a “medical city” hospital complex in Mecca, the state renewable energy agency and a boulevard in Riyadh recently given a lavish upgrade.
World leaders pay tribute
World leaders paid tribute to Abdullah, praising the late monarch as a key mediator between Muslims and the West.
US president Barack Obama said he and Abdullah, whose country has for decades been a strategic ally of Washington, had enjoyed a “genuine and warm friendship”.
Russian president Vladimir Putin hailed Abdullah as a “wise politician”.
Shiite Iran, the Sunni kingdom’s main regional adversary, sent condolences to the Saudi people and announced its foreign minister would travel to Riyadh for an “official ceremony” this weekend.
Abdullah, who officially took power in 2005, guided his country through a turbulent decade in the region, with neighbours Iraq and Yemen wracked with insecurity after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and the growth of Islamic radicalism.
French president Francois Hollande said Abdullah’s vision of “a fair and durable peace in the Middle East remains truer than ever”.
Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper praised the late king as “an ardent defender of peace”.
British prime minister David Cameron said the Saudi ruler would be remembered for “his commitment to peace and for strengthening understanding between faiths”.
Charles, the Prince of Wales, will travel to Riyadh as The Queen’s representative to pay his respects, the royal’s office said.
German chancellor Angela Merkel said Abdullah’s rule had been “fair and moderate”, praising him for aiding “dialogue between the Muslim world and the West”.
source: abc.net