MOUNT ARAFAT: Greater than 1.5 million Muslims braved excessive warmth to succeed in Mount Arafat on Saturday for the excessive level of the annual hajj pilgrimage, praying for hours, particularly for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza.
Clad in white, worshippers started arriving at daybreak for essentially the most gruelling day of the annual rites, ascending the rocky, 70-metre (230-foot) hill the place the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.
“That is an important day,” stated 46-year-old Egyptian Mohammed Asser, who got here ready with a listing of prayers. “I pray additionally for the Palestinians. Might God assist them.”
This 12 months’s hajj is unfolding within the shadow of the struggle in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which was triggered by the Palestinian militants’ unprecedented assault on southern Israel on October 7.
The assault resulted within the deaths of 1,194 folks, largely civilians, based on an AFP tally primarily based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory army offensive has killed at the least 37,266 folks in Gaza, additionally largely civilians, based on the Hamas-ruled territory’s well being ministry.
Saudi Arabia‘s minister accountable for non secular pilgrimages, Tawfiq al-Rabiah, warned final week that “no political exercise” can be tolerated throughout the hajj.
However that didn’t cease at the least one pilgrim from chanting in assist of the Palestinians who’ve endured greater than eight months of incessant bombardment.
“Pray for our brothers in Palestine, in Gaza… might God give victory to the Muslims,” he shouted.
In a message to hajj pilgrims on Saturday, Iranian supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated “the ironclad resistance of Palestine and the affected person, oppressed folks of Gaza… should be totally supported in each means”.
Some 2,000 Palestinians are performing the hajj on the particular invitation of Saudi King Salman, official media stated.
– ‘Scary’ warmth –
The hajj, one of many world’s largest non secular gatherings, is more and more affected by local weather change, based on a Saudi examine printed final month that stated regional temperatures have been rising 0.4 levels Celsius every decade.
The rituals, which take at the least 5 days to finish and are largely outdoor, are “not simple as a result of it is extremely sizzling”, stated Abraman Hawa, 26, from Ghana.
“Now we have solar… however it isn’t as sizzling. However I’ll pray to Allah at Arafat, as a result of I want his assist,” she added.
The temperature was anticipated to hit 43 levels Celsius (109.4 levels Fahrenheit) on Saturday, creating challenges for pilgrims who arrived at Mount Arafat after spending the evening in an enormous tented metropolis in Mina, a valley outdoors Mecca, Islam’s holiest metropolis.
Saudi authorities have urged pilgrims to drink loads of water and shield themselves from the solar. Since males are prohibited from carrying hats, many carry umbrellas.
Greater than 10,000 heat-related diseases have been recorded final 12 months, 10 p.c of them warmth stroke, a Saudi official advised AFP this week.
Ahmad Karim Abdelsalam, a 33-year-old pilgrim from India, admitted that he discovered the prospect of passing hours on Mount Arafat “a bit scary”.
However with the assistance of an umbrella and water sprays, “God prepared, every part will go effectively”, he stated.
– ‘As soon as in a lifetime’ –
The hajj is likely one of the 5 pillars of Islam and all Muslims with the means should carry out it at the least as soon as.
But visas, doled out to particular person nations on a quota system, may be tough to acquire.
“It is an opportunity that solely comes as soon as in a lifetime, I could not not come,” stated Abdulrahman Siyam, a 55-year-old Iraqi pilgrim who was performing the rituals on a prosthetic leg.
After Mount Arafat, the pilgrims will head to Muzdalifah, the place they’ll acquire pebbles to hold out the symbolic “stoning of the satan” ritual in Mina on Sunday.
The hajj is claimed to comply with the trail of the Prophet Mohammed’s last pilgrimage, about 1,400 years in the past.
It is a vital supply of legitimacy for the Al Saud dynasty, whose monarch has the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”, in Mecca and Medina.
It’s also a significant monetary windfall for the conservative nation, which is attempting to develop non secular tourism as a part of a drive to scale back its dependence on crude oil.
The dominion acquired greater than 1.8 million pilgrims final 12 months for the hajj, round 90 p.c of whom got here from overseas.
It additionally welcomed 13.5 million Muslims who got here to carry out umrah, the pilgrimage which may be executed year-round, and goals to succeed in 30 million pilgrims in complete by 2030.
Clad in white, worshippers started arriving at daybreak for essentially the most gruelling day of the annual rites, ascending the rocky, 70-metre (230-foot) hill the place the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.
“That is an important day,” stated 46-year-old Egyptian Mohammed Asser, who got here ready with a listing of prayers. “I pray additionally for the Palestinians. Might God assist them.”
This 12 months’s hajj is unfolding within the shadow of the struggle in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which was triggered by the Palestinian militants’ unprecedented assault on southern Israel on October 7.
The assault resulted within the deaths of 1,194 folks, largely civilians, based on an AFP tally primarily based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory army offensive has killed at the least 37,266 folks in Gaza, additionally largely civilians, based on the Hamas-ruled territory’s well being ministry.
Saudi Arabia‘s minister accountable for non secular pilgrimages, Tawfiq al-Rabiah, warned final week that “no political exercise” can be tolerated throughout the hajj.
However that didn’t cease at the least one pilgrim from chanting in assist of the Palestinians who’ve endured greater than eight months of incessant bombardment.
“Pray for our brothers in Palestine, in Gaza… might God give victory to the Muslims,” he shouted.
In a message to hajj pilgrims on Saturday, Iranian supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated “the ironclad resistance of Palestine and the affected person, oppressed folks of Gaza… should be totally supported in each means”.
Some 2,000 Palestinians are performing the hajj on the particular invitation of Saudi King Salman, official media stated.
– ‘Scary’ warmth –
The hajj, one of many world’s largest non secular gatherings, is more and more affected by local weather change, based on a Saudi examine printed final month that stated regional temperatures have been rising 0.4 levels Celsius every decade.
The rituals, which take at the least 5 days to finish and are largely outdoor, are “not simple as a result of it is extremely sizzling”, stated Abraman Hawa, 26, from Ghana.
“Now we have solar… however it isn’t as sizzling. However I’ll pray to Allah at Arafat, as a result of I want his assist,” she added.
The temperature was anticipated to hit 43 levels Celsius (109.4 levels Fahrenheit) on Saturday, creating challenges for pilgrims who arrived at Mount Arafat after spending the evening in an enormous tented metropolis in Mina, a valley outdoors Mecca, Islam’s holiest metropolis.
Saudi authorities have urged pilgrims to drink loads of water and shield themselves from the solar. Since males are prohibited from carrying hats, many carry umbrellas.
Greater than 10,000 heat-related diseases have been recorded final 12 months, 10 p.c of them warmth stroke, a Saudi official advised AFP this week.
Ahmad Karim Abdelsalam, a 33-year-old pilgrim from India, admitted that he discovered the prospect of passing hours on Mount Arafat “a bit scary”.
However with the assistance of an umbrella and water sprays, “God prepared, every part will go effectively”, he stated.
– ‘As soon as in a lifetime’ –
The hajj is likely one of the 5 pillars of Islam and all Muslims with the means should carry out it at the least as soon as.
But visas, doled out to particular person nations on a quota system, may be tough to acquire.
“It is an opportunity that solely comes as soon as in a lifetime, I could not not come,” stated Abdulrahman Siyam, a 55-year-old Iraqi pilgrim who was performing the rituals on a prosthetic leg.
After Mount Arafat, the pilgrims will head to Muzdalifah, the place they’ll acquire pebbles to hold out the symbolic “stoning of the satan” ritual in Mina on Sunday.
The hajj is claimed to comply with the trail of the Prophet Mohammed’s last pilgrimage, about 1,400 years in the past.
It is a vital supply of legitimacy for the Al Saud dynasty, whose monarch has the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”, in Mecca and Medina.
It’s also a significant monetary windfall for the conservative nation, which is attempting to develop non secular tourism as a part of a drive to scale back its dependence on crude oil.
The dominion acquired greater than 1.8 million pilgrims final 12 months for the hajj, round 90 p.c of whom got here from overseas.
It additionally welcomed 13.5 million Muslims who got here to carry out umrah, the pilgrimage which may be executed year-round, and goals to succeed in 30 million pilgrims in complete by 2030.
