The day in Arafat is the one time during the hajj when nearly all pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and 163 other countries are in the same place at the same time.
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The pilgrims are setting off to the ritual in groups according to schedules to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragedy.
The pilgrims will stay in Arafat until sunset when they will head to the nearby plain area of Muzdalifah to stay overnight, before returning to Mina for a symbolic stone-throwing at the devil. It took place as pilgrims were going to the Jamarat Bridge for a stoning ritual which this year will start today, according to officials.
The Hajj is taking place amid increased security after last year’s stampede.
Last year, a stampede during the stoning caused the deaths of what the Saudi government said were 769 pilgrims.
In May, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar reacted with the same voice when Iran opted to boycott the pilgrimage this year.
On Monday, Muslims in Saudi Arabia and other Arab States along with those in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom are also marking one of two Islamic holidays, known in Arabic as Eid al-Adha, commemorating Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael as a test of his faith from God.
The five-day-long hajj is a series of rituals meant to cleanse the soul of sins and instill a sense of equality and brotherhood among Muslims.
Saudi Arabia has stuck by its initial death toll of 769, but figures compiled from officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally nearly three times higher.
“We feel at ease and are totally benefiting from our pilgrimage”, Soumaya, 30, from Mali, told the AFP news agency. “We are truly at ease here”, Youssef al-Mehri, 24, from Oman said with a prayer rug slung over his shoulder.
The Grand Mufti, the kingdom’s top religious authority, warned Iran that to disrupt the haj would be unacceptable, in comments reported by local daily al-Okaz on Sunday.
Worshippers from more than 150 countries converged at the 70-metre hill at sunrise on Sunday, some 15km from Mecca, for “wukuf”, a high point of the Hajj which all pilgrims must attend in the mid-afternoon.
Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites and organising Haj, a role that Iranian authorities challenged this week as part of an escalating war of words over the handling of last year’s disaster.
Pilgrims come from every corner of the globe, but Indonesia – the most populous Muslim nation – has the largest quota.
Saudi King Salman said Tuesday, September 13 the kingdom rejects any attempt to play politics with the hajj, the annual pilgrimage which has added to tensions between Riyadh and Tehran.
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Masses of Iranian faithful held an alternative pilgrimage on Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of the Iraqi capital.
