President Donald Trump says he’s all for religious freedom. He counsels with pastors about it in private. He stumps for it in public. He even signed an executive order to bolster it in a full-blown White House ceremony.
But his policies — especially his so-called “travel ban” — and his pronouncements are preventing some U.S. Muslims from practicing their religion. They’re afraid, it turns out, to fulfill one of their faith’s most fundamental obligations: Make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with declaring belief in Allah (God) and the Prophet Muhammad, praying five times a day, observing the 30-day fast of Ramadan, and giving to the poor and needy.