"Putting Mecca time in the face of Greenwich Mean Time, this is the goal."
"That's why if someone travels to Mecca or lives there, he lives longer, is healthier and is less affected by the earth's gravity. You get charged with energy."

The Muslim world is busy challenging the infidel world to recognize the greatness of Islam. Hugely occupied by the annoyed feeling that the world is disinterested in Islam - and happy to leave it and the worship of Allah to Muslims and to get on with other things, inclusive of their own faiths, their own way of life - they just keep at it. By means peaceful and sly, aggravatedly violent and up front, the world is indeed sitting up and taking notice.

The religion that its faithful claim to be one of peace appears to have veered off course. To the great perturbation of those among the faithful whose only wish is to live in peace with others. And to the great satisfaction of those whose intention it is to unseat power and prestige and wealth and success and respect from the current major stockholders. The two faces of Islam are not quite complementary, since the mild-mannered faithful do not reflect the passion of the fanatics.

And, indeed, are all too often manipulated, victimized, exploited and murdered by the fanatics among them. Even so, the mild-mannered faithful find it difficult to believe what they experience, what is claimed, what can be readily seen; that Muslims, those in the faith of Islam, would represent as vicious murderers. That aside, the burning desire and determination to restore Islam's place of primacy in religion and world affairs proceeds apace. The faithful rejoice.

So why not change time? Greenwich Mean Time is simply a plot by the West to dictate time to the world of Islam. An insufferable tradition too long tolerated and needful of remedial action. And that remedial action is soon to be completed. With oil money funding a huge clock installed within a newly-built complex to include hotels, shopping centres and conference halls. In Mecca. Sound tawdry? Sadly, that equates with wealth and a lack of finesse.

The Saudi clock tower appears to be modelled after St.Stephen's Tower, where Big Ben is installed in London, and there is also, it appears, an obvious resemblance to the Empire State Building, in its design. Now isn't that too utterly puckish for words? The holy city of Mecca is being transformed into an Arab version of a Western-style shopping complex. While decrying the degraded values of the West, Saudi Arabia is emulating them. Logic?

This huge clock will have four faces 46 metres in diameter, illuminated by 2 million LED lights with large Arabic script: "In the name of Allah". Get the picture?

Atop it will sit a spire, whose additional height will transform the edifice into the world's second tallest building, almost 610-metres in height. On top of the spire, a crescent, symbolizing Islam.
Mecca, according to its proud sponsors is "the true centre of the Earth". Who knew? Well, now we do! Who needs Greenwich Observatory?

An Egyptian cleric whose public television persona is known and highly respected throughout the Muslim world, insists that Mecca has a claim to representing as the prime meridian since it is "in perfect alignment with the magnetic north". The city, the holiest place in Islam, is, furthermore, a "zero magnetism zone" according to the proud propaganda sponsors.

Western scientists think differently, irreverently, annoyingly, irritatingly pointing out that the Magnetic North Pole appears on a line of longitude passing through Canada, the United States, Mexico and Antarctica. So fussily inappropriate, that kind of raining on their parade. Bloody irresponsible too; who the hell does the West think they are?