re: #44 darthstar

It doesn’t say you have to be a Muslim, or that you’ll face death.

Separate from Saudi criminal law

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law.[2] The Saudi government supports their position using Sura 9:28 from the Qur’an:

O you who believe! the idolaters are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year; and if you fear poverty then Allah will enrich you out of His grace if He please; surely Allah is Knowing Wise.
—Qur’an, Sura 9 At-Tawba, ayah 28, [43]

The existence of cities closed to non-Muslims and the mystery of the Hajjis have often aroused intense curiosity in people from around the world. Some have falsely claimed to be Muslims in order to visit the city of Mecca and the Grand Mosque to experience the Hajj for themselves. The first to leave a record was Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503.[44] The most famous account of a foreigner’s journey to Mecca is Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, written by Richard Francis Burton.[45] Burton traveled as a Qadiriyyah Sufi from Afghanistan. Individuals who use fake certificates of Muslim identity to enter may be arrested and prosecuted by Saudi authorities.[46]