Pilgrims converged on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the climax of this 12 months’s hajj. (File)
Mount Arafat:
Muslim pilgrims converged Thursday on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the climax of this 12 months’s hajj, the smallest in trendy instances and a pointy distinction to the large crowds of earlier years.
A decent safety cordon has been erected throughout the foot of the rocky hill outdoors Mecca, also called Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy.
Pilgrims, donning masks and observing social distancing, had been introduced in buses from neighbouring Mina, state tv confirmed, as Saudi authorities impose measures to stop a coronavirus outbreak.
They had been topic to temperature checks and attended a sermon — which state media stated was translated into 10 languages — earlier than they set off on the climb to the summit for hours of Koran recitals and prayers to atone for his or her sins.
The scene was strikingly totally different to final 12 months’s ritual when a sea of pilgrims ascended Mount Arafat, marshalled by tens of hundreds of stewards in a bid to stop any crushes.
After sundown prayers, pilgrims will make their method down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, one other holy website the place they are going to sleep underneath the celebrities to arrange for the ultimate stage of hajj, the symbolic “stoning of the satan”.
It takes place on Friday and in addition marks the start of Eid al-Adha, the pageant of sacrifice.
The hajj, one of many 5 pillars of Islam and a should for able-bodied Muslims at the least as soon as of their lifetime, is normally one of many world’s largest spiritual gatherings.
However solely as much as 10,000 folks already residing within the kingdom will take part on this 12 months’s ritual, in contrast with 2019’s gathering of some 2.5 million from world wide.
“You aren’t our friends however these of God, the custodian of the 2 holy mosques (Saudi Arabia’s King Salman) and the nation,” Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten stated in a video launched by the media ministry on Wednesday.
Safety Cordon
A safety cordon has been thrown across the holy websites to stop any safety breaches, an inside ministry spokesman stated.
Riyadh confronted sturdy criticism in 2015 when some 2,300 worshippers had been killed within the deadliest stampede within the gathering’s historical past.
However this 12 months, these dangers are tremendously lowered by the a lot smaller crowd.
The pilgrims have all been examined for the virus, and international journalists had been barred from this 12 months’s hajj, normally an enormous international media occasion.
As a part of the rites accomplished over 5 days within the holy metropolis of Mecca and its environment, the pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat after spending the evening in Mina.
A district of Mecca, Mina sits in a slim valley surrounded by rocky mountains, and is remodeled annually into an unlimited encampment for pilgrims.
They started the hajj on Wednesday with their first “tawaf”, the circumambulation of the Kaaba, a big construction in Mecca’s Grand Mosque in the direction of which Muslims world wide pray.
The Kaaba is draped in a black fabric embroidered in gold with Koranic verses and referred to as the kiswa, which is modified annually in the course of the pilgrimage.
Pilgrims had been introduced contained in the mosque in small batches, strolling alongside paths marked on the ground, in sharp distinction to the conventional sea of humanity that swirls across the Kaaba throughout hajj.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
Source link
