Huge crowds of robed Muslim pilgrims prayed on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat on Friday, the climax of the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the pandemic forced drastic cuts in numbers two years in a row.
Groups of worshippers, many holding umbrellas against the fierce sun, recited verses from the Koran on the rocky rise, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.
Prayers on Mount Arafat, also known as the “Mount of Mercy”, are the highlight of the pilgrimage, capped this year at one million people including 850,000 from abroad after Covid greatly reduced numbers over 2020 and 2021.
Pilgrims, many of them in simple white robes and chanting “Oh God, here I am”, reached Mount Arafat on foot or in buses from the tents nearby where they spent the night.
After sunset, they will journey the short distance to Muzdalifah, where they will sleep under the stars before performing the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ceremony on Saturday.
In 2019, as in previous years, some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world took part, a figure that dropped to a few thousand in 2020 and 60,000 in 2021.
Even though the crowds are back, Covid fears remain and the hajj is taking place against the backdrop of a resurgence in the region, with some Gulf countries tightening restrictions to keep outbreaks in check.
Nevertheless, the National Centre for Meteorology, which has set up an office in Mina, is sending warnings to pilgrims on their mobile phones, urging them to avoid outdoor rituals at certain times of the day, especially at noon.
On Saturday, Muslim pilgrims will take part in the “stoning”, the last major ritual of the hajj which has previously led to deadly stampedes, as hundreds of thousands of participants converge on a small space.
After the stoning ritual, pilgrims return to the Grand Mosque in Mecca to perform a final “tawaf” or circling of the Kaaba, the cubic structure draped in a gold-embroidered black cloth that is the focal point of Islam.
Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice that begins on Saturday, marks the end of hajj.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.