Over 1.5 million Muslims will pray at Mount Arafat today

• At least 160,000 Pakistanis are also performing Haj this year.
• Pilgrims come from around 180 countries around the world.
• Grand Mosque Imam Maher Al Muaiqly to deliver the Hajj sermon.
  

More than 1.5 million Muslims from some 180 countries on Saturday began praying at Mount Arafat to mark the “Day of Arafat” — considered the pinnacle of the great holy pilgrimage — on the ninth day of Zil Hajj, a day after the start of Hajj 1445 from the tent city of Mina on the Day of Taruyya.

At least 160,000 Pakistanis are also making the grand pilgrimage this year, joining hundreds of thousands of international and domestic pilgrims amid scorching temperatures.

Pilgrims arrived at Jabal al-Rahmah and will hear the Hajj sermon at Masjid-e-Nimrah translated into 50 different languages, including Urdu. They will also offer Zuhr and Asr prayer in Arafah.

The Hajj sermon will be delivered by Sheikh Maher Al Muaiqly, Imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

Pilgrims will then spend the whole day praying in the plain of Arafa and depart for Muzdalifah at sunset.

After offering Maghrib and Isha prayers in Muzdalifah, they will perform Rami al-Jamarat by collecting pebbles to carry out the symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina on Sunday (tomorrow).

The pilgrims will then return to Mecca to celebrate Eid ul Adha and perform sacrifices.

Worshipers from around the world will climb the 70-meter-long rocky hill, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mecca, where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave his last sermon. AFP.

Challenging heat

Summer heat in the desert is expected to reach 43°C. The Hajj, which takes at least five days to complete and is mostly outdoors, “is not easy because it is very hot,” said Abraman Hawa, 26, from Ghana.

“We have sun… but it’s not that hot. But I will pray to Allah in Arafat, because I need his support,” he added.

Saudi authorities urged pilgrims to drink plenty of water and protect themselves from the sun. Since men are not allowed to wear hats, many carry umbrellas.

More than 10,000 heat-related illnesses were recorded last year, 10% of them heatstroke, Saudi official said AFP this week.

The Hajj, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, is increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study that said regional temperatures were rising by 0.4°C every decade.

But Mohammed Farooq, a 60-year-old Pakistani pilgrim, was not put off by the Gulf kingdom’s hot summer sun.

The Hajj is “very important to me as a Muslim,” he said.

Windfall financial gains

The huge crowds of worshipers spent the night in a giant tented city in Mina, a valley several kilometers outside Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

Many of them were packed tightly into the air-conditioned tents, lying close together on narrow mattresses.

They were grouped by nationality and price, depending on how much they had paid for the Hajj packages — usually several thousand dollars.

The Hajj is said to follow the path of the last pilgrimage of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), about 1,400 years ago.

It is an important source of legitimacy for the Al Saud dynasty, whose monarch holds the title of “guardian of the two holy mosques”, in Mecca and Medina.

It is also a major economic windfall for the conservative country, which is trying to develop religious tourism as part of an effort to reduce its dependence on crude oil.

The kingdom received more than 1.8 million pilgrims last year for the Hajj, around 90% of whom came from abroad.

It also welcomed 13.5 million Muslims who came to perform the Umrah, the short pilgrimage that can be performed year-round, and aims to reach 30 million by 2030.

This year’s Hajj takes place in the shadow of the Gaza war, after eight months of bloodshed that is an open wound for many in the Muslim world.

First stage of Hajj ‘completed successfully’

Addressing a press conference in Mecca on the first day of Hajj at the Information Ministry’s Media Center, the Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman said the first stage of Hajj 1445 has been successfully completed.

The process of transporting the Hajj pilgrims to Mina was carried out as per the set schedule.

The spokesperson asserted that any attempt to disturb the peace of pilgrims and Hajj during the holy pilgrimage will not be tolerated.

“So far 160 fake Hajj services have been sealed, while 6,135 Iqama violators have been arrested,” the spokesman added.