MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia: Tears flowed and prayers filled the air as the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage by almost two million believers from around the world reached its zenith yesterday on a vast Saudi plain.
“I am now a newborn baby and I don’t have any sin,” Nigerian pilgrim Taofik Odunewu said, tears streaming down his face. He stood at the foot of Mount Arafat and raised his hands to the heavens in the seamless two-piece white “ihram” outfit of male pilgrims.
“I pray for prosperity, long life and... I pray for my country,” Odunewu said with a broad smile on the second day of the Haj.
The Haj, which officially ends on Tuesday, is the world’s largest Muslim gathering. It is one of the five pillars of Islam that every capable Muslim must perform at least once, the high-point of his or her spiritual life.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims arrived at Arafat yesterday carrying suitcases and other luggage among thousands of white tents which stood ready to accommodate the multitude. From early morning, pilgrims crowded onto the slippery, rocky hill where Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) gave his final sermon 14 centuries ago. The pilgrims pushed forward to touch the rocks during prayer, their attire turning the hill, which is also known as Mount Mercy, white in colour. All male pilgrims dress in white ihram to symbolise a state of purity, which also emphasises their unity regardless of social status or nationality. Some pilgrims sat alone on the rocks, praying silently, but others gathered in groups, their voices in a loud appeal to God.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said the Haj had attracted almost 1.4 million foreign pilgrims from 163 nations. Local media report that several hundred thousand Saudis are also participating, pushing the total towards two million.
Security forces were deployed en masse across Mount Arafat and its plain to organise the wave of humanity. The number of faithful appeared lower than past years following a crackdown by authorities on illegal pilgrims without permits, more than 145,000 of whom have been turned away, state media said.
This year’s Haj comes with Saudi Arabia and four other Arab nations joining Washington in air strikes against Islamic State group militants, who have committed a spate of atrocities in Syrian and Iraqi territory they seized. “These criminals carry out bloodshed and looting,” Saudi Arabia’s top cleric said, without naming IS, during an address at Mount Arafat.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh called on Muslim leaders to “hit with an iron hand the enemies of Islam”, whom he called a threat to the religion. Saudi authorities are also striving to protect pilgrims from two deadly viruses, Ebola and the MERS coronavirus.
No such cases have been recorded among the hajj visitors, officials say. As the sun set on Arafat, pilgrims in their hundreds of thousands walked, rode motorbikes, or even climbed onto the roofs of buses for the journey to nearby Muzdalifah.
The sound of helicopters overhead and police sirens on the ground merged with the chanting of the faithful. At Muzdalifah they gather pebbles for the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ritual today.AFP
