Religious obsession.. Juhayman Al-Otaibi’s extremist ideology made him occupy the Grand Mosque for 14 days

Have you ever thought what he can do Religious obsessionHow does everyone get hurt? And for your information, this obsession exists among many people belonging to different religions, sects, and groups, and today we will stop at the story of one of them, “Jahman Al-Otaibi,” who stormed the Grand Mosque on November 20, 1979, corresponding to the first of the month of Muharram 1400.

His name is Juhayman bin Muhammad bin Saif Al-Otaibi, he was the leader of the group that stormed the sanctuary, and he is a student of religious philosophy at the University of Makkah Al-Mukarramah and the Islamic University in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, and there he met Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Qahtani, who married his sister following that..

At the end of the year 1399 AH, Al-Qahtani told his son-in-law Juhayman that he had seen in a dream that he was the expected Mahdi, and that he would liberate the Arabian Peninsula and the whole world. water and ammunition to the Great Mosque of Mecca, and regarding 200 people were able to enter the Noble Sanctuary, carrying a number of coffins filled with weapons..


Jahman Al-Otaibi

After the morning prayer, one of the men of the congregation called Khaled al-Yami, recounting some of the hadiths that describe the Mahdi and talk regarding the signs of his appearance, before he reached his goal in his sermon, saying: Know, O Muslims, that all of these characteristics applied to this Mahdi, who will pledge allegiance following moments between the Rukn and the Maqam. , announcing that the Mahdi is now inside the courtyard of the sanctuary to receive the pledge of allegiance.

Immediately following the end of the sermon, Juhayman and his followers began forcing the worshipers to advance towards the Kaaba between the Corner and the Maqam, and to pledge allegiance to his sister’s husband, Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Qahtani, in his capacity as the Awaited Mahdi..

After the Saudi authorities learned this, they began to besiege the mosque, and Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Qahtani tried to convince his men that he was immortal and the forces would not be able to kill him. And the men were unable to save him, so the forces dragged Al-Qahtani’s body out of the sanctuary, without realizing that he was the alleged Mahdi..

The occupation of the mosque continued for fourteen days until the forces managed to liberate it. Juhayman and the rest of his men were tried, and many of them were executed.

It is important to define the ideas of Juhayman Al-Otaibi and where he got them from.

And the book “Until Juhayman Does Not Return” by Thomas Heghammer and Stephane Lacroix says, according to the writer Sameh Fayez, that the group, which was called “body”, was formed in Medina in the mid-sixties, by a small group of religious students, who were working, for some Time, in the field of preaching in the poor neighborhoods, and given that they were influenced by Al-Albani, they became firmly convinced that the jurisprudential schools and Islamic currents at that time, including the official Saudi current, i.e. Wahhabism, need to be purified from heresies and wrong ideas, as they worked on Facing the growing influence of other groups present on the scene in the city during the 1970s, especially Jama’at al-Tableegh wa’l-Da’wah and the Muslim Brotherhood..

Jahman al-Otaimbi group
Jahman al-Otaimbi group

While the book “Days with Juhayman” by Nasser Al-Hazimi sees important aspects of this movement, as the writer goes back in time to the year 1974 AD when he first became acquainted with Islamic groups as a religious person and not as a member of one of them, and describes this period as the real beginning of the emergence of the Islamic awakening, the decline of the forces of the left, and following Two years have passed, and the first meeting took place between him and the leaders of the Salafist group in Kuwait, so he attended their diwaniyas, from which he understood their doctrinal approach, and adopted the same position as them towards other groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tabligh..

It was known regarding “Juhayman Al-Otaibi” for issuing the so-called “Seven Messages” related to topics such as “the rejection of modernity, the demand for forced kingship, the non-abandonment of the Islamic caliphate, and the pledge of allegiance.”

Some, including “Muhammad al-Dabouli” in an article titled “Muhtasaba Salafism … Apostasy to the Enlightenment March,” believe that Juhayman al-Otaibi was influenced by the Islamic radical movement in Egypt and its thinkers. Jamaat al-Muslimin”, so it can be said that Juhayman worked to transfer the Egyptian experience in terrorist groups, especially the Jamaat al-Muslimeen or what is called in the media “takfir wal-hijra” to Saudi Arabia.

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