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Mount Arafat — Around two million Muslims on Wednesday poured into the vast Saudi plain where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon, for the peak of the hajj pilgrimage.
Many of the faithful from around the globe camped at the foot of Mount Arafat where they slept, exhausted from their journey, and prayed despite the scorching sun.
Carrying colourful umbrellas, they walked from dawn in massive crowds towards the 300-metre-high slippery, rocky hill — also known as Mount Mercy —located on the plain.
Here they believe Mohammed gave his last sermon 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on hajj.
Unlike previous years, the pilgrims were not carrying their countries’ flags, in what local media said was a “ban” on flags during the pilgrimage. The kingdom’s authorities have repeatedly warned against the use of any political slogans or banners during hajj.
To organise the flow of pilgrims, security forces formed human chains along the roads, while volunteers handed out boxes of food and cold water bottles.
The faithful gathered in their hundreds of thousands for noon prayers, as water sprays were turned on to cool them down while helicopters hovered overhead.
For many pilgrims, hajj is the spiritual highlight of their lives.
“We feel blessed. I got goosebumps, a feeling that cannot be explained, when reaching the top of the mountain,” said Ruhaima Emma, a 26-year-old Filipina pilgrim, who said she has been “praying for a good life for everyone”.
For Akram Ghannam, 45, from war-torn Syria, being in Arafat is a “feeling that cannot be described. I pray to God for the victory of all those who are oppressed.”
Many reached Arafat by bus while some walked from the holy city of Mecca about 15km away.
Other pilgrims arrived from nearby Mina using the elevated Mashair Railway linking the holy sites of Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina, a tent city where many pilgrims spent on Tuesday night.
No major incidents were reported on Arafat but the civil defence agency announced that there were more than 200 cases of “fainting and fatigue” after doors failed to operate at one of the railway stations, causing crowding.
After sunset on Wednesday the faithful will move to Muzdalifah. There they will gather pebbles for a symbolic stoning of the devil ritual yesterday, which is also the Eid al-Adha feast of sacrifice marked by the world’s more than 1.5 billion Muslims.
This year’s gathering is about the same size as last year’s, with 1.4 million foreign pilgrims joining hundreds of thousands of Saudis and residents of the kingdom.
They are undeterred by a construction crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque earlier this month that killed 109 people, including foreign pilgrims. — AFP
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