Reiterating a point made on Tuesday by King Salman, Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia does not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs “but we don’t permit the holy sites and the hajj to be used for political ends”.
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Muslim pilgrims gather around the victims of a stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia during the annual hajj pilgrimage, September 24, 2015.
“Yes I want to pray for Yemen and the people in Syria and Iraq and all the oppressed Muslim people”, said Mahdi al Ahdal, a Yemeni pilgrim.
The ritual is an emulation of [Muslim Prophet] Ibrahim’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where he is said to have appeared trying to dissuade him from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son, Ismael.Muslims from around the world pour to Makkah every year to perform Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
Arafat is the site where Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave his last sermon about 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on the pilgrimage.
Following the stampede and the execution of a Shiite cleric by Saudi Arabia, which renewed diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the Iranian government blocked its citizens from attending this year.
He indicated, “These hands have targeted the fate of Muslim nations and the unity of the Muslim world in its confrontation with the common danger of Zionism and worldwide terrorism”.
Hajj pilgrims return to scene of deadly stampede was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on September 12, 2016 and was last updated on September 12, 2016.
Saudi Arabia has said that 1.85 million pilgrims, a lot of them from outside Saudi Arabia, have arrived for the annual pilgrimage, a religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey.
The pilgrims will spend the day on the mountain and move by sunset to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa, where they will gather pebbles to stone columns symbolising the devil at another location called Jamarat on Monday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice).
Authorities announced an investigation into the disaster but no results have ever been released, although a number of safety measures have been taken.
Egyptian pilgrim Mahmoud Awny said the feeling of being on Mount Arafat is “indescribable”.
On Sunday, helicopters monitored the crowd flow from the skies, while on the ground, police on foot, motorbike, and all-terrain vehicles directed pedestrian movement.
Earlier in the week, Iran’s supreme leader accused Saudi authorities of murdering pilgrims during last year’s crush.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranian faithful held an alternative pilgrimage on Saturday in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Karbala, according to an official at the shrine of Imam Hussein.
“The channel aims to broadcast the message of the hajj, the eternal meanings of Islam, and to show what is being provided by the kingdom” during the pilgrimage, the Saudi Press Agency quoted Turaifi as saying.
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Beyond the politics of the Hajj itself, the two nations have been caught in a series of disputes over regional conflicts, including Syria, where Iran backs President Bashar al-Assad but Saudi Arabia has sided with rebel groups.
