Muslim pilgrims leave after they finished their prayers at Namira Mosque in Arafat during the annual haj pilgrimage, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia September 11, 2016. “You have no partner”, spending the most important day of the annual Haj in prayer and reading from the Qur’an.
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Arafat is the site where the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave his last sermon about 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on the pilgrimage.
A non-stop flow disembarked from 18,000 buses which authorities have mobilised.
But that’s not enough for Iran, which opted instead to endorse an alternative pilgrimage to Karbala, an Islamic holy site in Iraq.
Under multicoloured parasols to protect against the burning sun, the mass of people moved through broad streets which were closed to traffic around Mount Arafat.
A few who spoke to Reuters journalists said the hajj season teaches many to be patient in life.
“It’s attractive to see the Muslims of the world pray together here”, said Indian pilgrim Mohammed Arafan, 40.
“I have prayed to God to have mercy on us, give us relief and resolve Syria’s crisis”, said Um Fadi, wearing a traditional long black embroidered dress and head scarf native to her home in southern Syria.
From a distance, the hill appeared a snowy white because of the seamless two-piece white garment, ihram, worn by male pilgrims.
It symbolises a state of purity and emphasises their unity regardless of social status or nationality.
They come from every corner of the globe for the hajj, but Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, has the largest contingent with more than 155,000 pilgrims.
Thousands of Muslims carried out the “stoning of the devil” ritual on Monday to mark the beginning of Eid al-Adha celebrations which is the end of the annual hajj season.
A number of safety measures have been introduced to prevent a repeat of last year’s tragedy, which killed around 2,300 people as they made their way to the Jamarat Bridge to perform the stoning.
Saudi Arabia claims that almost 770 people were killed in the Mina incident; however, Iran, which had the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals, has put the death toll at more than 7,000.
Saudi authorities have previously suggested that pilgrims failing to follow crowd-control rules bore some blame for the disaster, but they have not released any details.
Among the safety measures taken is the distribution of a bracelet that stores pilgrims’ personal data.
NAN reports that movement from Muna, where the pilgrims spent the night, started as early as 2 a.m. and was completed at about 10 a.m.
Pilgrims said they felt safe and noticed organisational improvements.
At the sacred hill itself, police sometimes had to use their bodies to block the flow of pilgrims and avoid bottlenecks.
Iran has called for the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate last year’s human crush.
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The Iranian interests section explained that visiting the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) on the Day of Arafah is deemed a very honorable action by Muslims.
