In Saudi Arabia, the location of Islam’s holiest sites, Mecca, there are swarms of locusts, crickets and cockroaches.
Social media users have posted images and uploaded several videos of this. Swarms of locust infesting the Great Mosque of Mecca, the holiest in all of Islam. It is the focus of the hajj, the pilgrimage, which draws millions of Muslims a year to Saudi Arabia.
According to a report on Al-Araby, Mecca’s municipal authorities announced earlier in the week. Specialised teams of sanitation workers have been tasked to deal with the infestation.
All efforts have been harnessed to speed up the eradication of the insects. This is done in the interest of the safety and comfort of guests to God’s house.
The report suggested that the breeding in southeast Egypt, is on the Red Sea coast. The coast in Saudi Arabia and Oman was smaller than that which plagued Sudan and Eritrea. The swarm was helped by good rains following Cyclone Luban. Which is a very severe tropical storm that affected Yemen, Somalia and Oman in particular, in October 2018.
Is it simply irony that in the weekly Torah portion Jews read about the final five plagues. These were boils, fiery hail, locusts, darkness and death of first-born males – that God sent to afflict Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Nevertheless, a swarm of locusts attacks Islam’s holiest mosque?
A locust will eat its weight in food every day. Moreover, swarms can strip entire regions bare. But for some like the Russian fishermen, they are considered a mixed blessing. Most importantly, Locusts are edible and considered a delicacy in some countries. While the consumption of most insects is forbidden under kosher laws.
The Talmud identifies four species of locust that are kosher and permitted to be eaten by Jews. Since the identity of those species is in dispute, most Jews refrain from indulging in eating locusts.
Source: breakingisrealnews.com
