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Rev

6

Correct me if I'm wrong but SA has religious police. If you're a Western tourist that is (by their view) not Muslim, they probably leave you alone for most things. If you go to a Muslim only area, you've now subjected yourself to the strict scrutiny of the religious police. It's possible that you could commit a severe transgression, without even knowing it, that could face a very severe penalty.
– Dean MacGregor
Commented Jan 5, 2023 at 12:59
4

Mecca is not a destination for tourists, less so for non-muslim tourists. A lot of the discussions connected to this question deal with the traveler in question not being muslim, but visiting a 'Muslims only' area, specifically Mecca. If you break the law in any country, you might face the consequences. If you break the law in Mecca in a way that is considered un-islamic, particularly when you're not muslim, yeah, I can imagine consequences to be more severe. The solution is not to figure out how to appear muslim when you're not, but to respect the rules and to not visit when you're not.
– MastaBaba
Commented Jan 5, 2023 at 16:06
1

If I could downvote this I would, because it manages to be wrong on the first, most basic count - converts to Islam absolutely do get documentation proving this and this is well-known in the Muslim community, the documentation is printed by the mosque/organisation that the conversion is taken with and exists almost entirely for the very purpose of proving you're a Muslim to SA in order to perform the Hajj. There's even a question on this very site about it.
– Hashim Aziz
Commented Jan 6, 2023 at 14:57
2

The fact that one does not need a mosque to be muslim, converted or not, means that a conversion does not automatically come with a certificate. However, as @HashimAziz points out, a Hajj visa requires a notarised certificate for converts. I will include this in my answer.
– MastaBaba
Commented Jan 6, 2023 at 16:08
2

While a Hajj visa is indeed needed for a pilgrimage to Mecca, I believe a standard tourist visa is sufficient for muslim tourists in order to visit Mecca outside of the major pilgrimage season.
– Johnnyjanko
Commented Mar 31, 2023 at 8:29

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