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CNN Live At Daybreak

Spiritual Journey Underway in Saudi Arabia

Aired February 19, 2002 - 06:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: One of Islam's holiest rituals is taking place now in Saudi Arabia.

As CNN's Zain Verjee tells us, the Hajj is not just a physical journey for millions, it's a spiritual one as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the spiritual center of the Muslim world. The Kaaba, a cube-like structure made of stone, draped in a black cloth. It's the direction to which Muslims all over the world turn to pray. Now about two million of them will walk around it for their ultimate spiritual experience in Mecca.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my first time I've been to Saudi Arabia and the pilgrimage, and I love it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great. I'm closer to -- I feel closer to my God.

VERJEE: Islam is Arabic for submission to the will of God. More than one billion people in the world follow this religion and every single one of them share two basic beliefs -- that there's one God and that this God has communicated to mankind through the prophet Mohammed and the sacred scripture revealed to him, the Koran.

The difference is within Islam come from how it's being interpreted and the cultural context in which it's practiced. Muslims are as diverse as western society. The streets of Mecca are filled with different faces and the sounds of different languages. Among the major practices of Islam, often referred to as the pillars, affirming the oneness of God, daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving to charity, and the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj.

Here at the Hajj, there's been some discussion between pilgrims about what it means to be Muslim and what Islam is all about. Many scholars believe that the key to understanding Islam is to ask this question -- whose Islam are we talking about and who is defining it?

Zain Verjee, CNN, Mecca.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Tough questions we're all dealing with right now.

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