MOUNT ARAFAT:Nearly 2.5 million Muslim hajj pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat in SaudiArabia yesterday to atone for their sins and seek God's forgiveness, marshalledby tens of thousands of stewards in a bid to prevent any repetition of previousyears' deadly stampedes. Movable crowd control barriers were erected all aroundthe foot of the rocky hill outside Makkah, also known as Jabal Al-Rahma orMount of Mercy, where the faithful arrived on foot and in a seemingly endlessline of buses. Raising their palms skywards, the pilgrims set off on the climbto the summit where they held prayers to atone for their sins in a ritual thatis regarded as the high point of the annual hajj.
"Really, Iam very satisfied," said Lassina Coulibaly, a 47-year-old Malian businessemployee. "Fatigue is part of the pilgrimage," added the father ofseven. Clutching brightly colored umbrellas, pilgrims first braved the blazingsun and then heavy downpours that many welcomed as a blessing. Some burst intotears as they chanted prayers. Thousands of faithful had spent the night underthe stars, sleeping on prayer rugs or pieces of cardboard.
Trucks wereparked at regular intervals on the route leading up to the hill, distributingbottles of water and meals. Thousands of workers prepared to clear the rubbishthat littered the ground. Helicopters crisscrossed overhead, part of the tightsecurity precautions taken by the pilgrimage's Saudi hosts. The hajj is one ofthe five pillars of Islam which every Muslim is required to complete at leastonce in their lifetime if they are healthy enough and have the means to do so.
HH the Amir ofKuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah extended greetings to citizens andexpatriates on the advent of Eid Al-Adha, a statement by the Amiri Diwan saidFriday. The Diwan added HH the Amir extended similar greetings to Arab andIslamic nations, wishing those countries and Kuwait evermore progress andprosperity. HH the Amir yesterday exchanged cables of congratulations with Araband Muslim leaders on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. The Amir addressed heartfeltand sincere greetings to the leaders, wishing all Arab and Muslim countriesperpetual security, stability and prosperity.
"I came lastyear during Ramadan, now I am there for the hajj," said Indonesian pilgrimZakir Uddin. "It is an honor, praise be to God," added the27-year-old cook. Like other male pilgrims, he wears a seamless white garmentthat covers only one shoulder and emphasizes unity regardless of social statusor nationality. The women wear loose dresses, most of them white, exposing onlytheir faces and hands. They are designed to help pilgrims enter a state ofpurity, called ihram. Uddin, who works in the Saudi city of Jeddah less than 90km from Makkah, says he is happy to see so many of his compatriots among thepilgrims. "Indonesians make up the single largest contingent, such is thewill of God," he said.
Once on the hill,pilgrims sat or lay in whatever space they could find. Many prayed, some criedand others took selfies or streamed videos to friends and relatives back home.Zaid Abdullah, a 30-year-old Yemeni who works in a supermarket in Saudi Arabia,said he was praying for his own country, where war has killed tens of thousandsof people and caused the world's worse humanitarian crisis, and for Muslimsaround the globe. "We can tolerate the heat because our sins are greaterthan that," he said as he approached the Mount of Mercy. "We ask Godto alleviate the heat of the hereafter. As for the heat of this life, we canbear it."
Hamood Ismail andhis wife Raghdaa travelled from Syria, through Turkey, while taxi driver KhaledMaatouq came from Libya. They all said they were seeking an end to the sufferingin their homelands which have been torn apart by conflict. For others, thepilgrimage is a form of relief. Egyptian merchant Ramadan Al-Jeedi said he wasgrateful to accompany his mother after his father died last year. "It'sthe greatest feeling, to feel that God the almighty chose us to be in thisplace," he said. Nadzmi Maruji Naid from the Philippines said he feltcomfortable but a little nervous about making haj for the first time: "Godwilling, everyone here will be accepted by Allah."
Pilgrimstravelling from abroad account for 1.86 million of the 2.48 million taking partin this year's hajj, according to official figures. Among them are 200survivors and relatives of victims of the attacks on two New Zealand mosques inMarch. After sunset prayers, pilgrims made their way down Mount Arafat toMuzdalifah, another holy site where they will sleep under the stars to preparefor the final stage of hajj, a ritual "stoning of the devil". Thatmarks the beginning of Eid Al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, marked today.Sheep are traditionally slaughtered for the three-day event, a tribute toProphet Abraham's (PBUH) sacrifice of a lamb after God spared Ismael (PBUH),his son. Pilgrims then return to the Grand Mosque to perform a final"tawaf" or walk around the Kaaba.
The scale of thepilgrimage presents vast security and logistical challenges, with tens ofthousands of safety officers deployed. Riyadh faced strong criticism in 2015when some 2,300 worshippers were killed in the deadliest stampede in thegathering's history. This year's hajj takes place to a backdrop of Gulftensions following a series of attacks on tankers, the downing of drones andthe seizure of ships. Riyadh blames regional foe Tehran for the attacks oncommercial shipping, accusations Iran vehemently denies.
Despite theabsence of diplomatic ties between the two countries, some 88,550 Iranianpilgrims were due to take part in the hajj this year according to Iran's Tasnimnews agency. As in previous years, Saudi authorities have been at pains tostress that the hajj is a religious event and have sought to prevent itspoliticization.
Iran's SupremeLeader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday condemned a US blueprint to end theconflict between Israel and the Palestinians and called on haj pilgrims tooppose it. The message was read at a rally held by Iranian pilgrims insidetheir compound, according to Iran's state television which showed hundreds ofpilgrims gathered in a tent chanting slogans including "America is Allah'senemy" in Arabic, and holding signs that read "Death to Israel"and "Death to America".
Pilgrimage isalso the backbone of a Saudi plan to expand tourism under a drive to diversifythe kingdom's economy away from oil. The haj and year-round umrah generate billionsof dollars in revenue from worshippers' lodging, transport, fees and gifts.Officials aim to increase the number of umrah and haj pilgrims to 15 millionand 5 million respectively by 2020 and the umrah number to 30 million by 2030.- Agencies