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Saudi Arabia says over 1.8 million mostly foreign pilgrims observing hajj
Iranians, however, are prohibited from making the pilgrimage this year.
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They are following in the footsteps of their prophet who performed the same rituals about 1,400 years ago.
Islam regards the site near Mecca as the place where God tested Abraham’s faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son Ismail and where the Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon.
An “eye” which never closes forms the heart of the command and control centre located in Mina, near Mecca, said Colonel Saad al-Dosari, its planning chief.
They will spend the most important day of the hajj in prayer and reading from the Quran.
In stifling heat they chanted a traditional Haj incantation, “Here I am at your service, O God.
Some 769 Muslim pilgrims died in a stampede during the ritual in last year’s Hajj, according to Saudi official figures.
Standing at Mount Arafat in prayer before sunset on 9th Dul Hijjah is the high point of Haj.
Numerous roughly 2 million pilgrims taking part in this year’s hajj will climb a hill called Jabal al-Rahma, or mountain of mercy, in Arafat and spend time there in supplication.
Millions of Muslim pilgrims moved to Muzdalifa on Tuesday evening after spending the afternoon on the plain of Arafat east of Mecca at the peak of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
The rituals by the pilgrims culminate at the annual feast celebrations known as Eid al-Adha which is being marked today by Muslims around the world, as the 10th day of the Islamic month of Dhul al-Hijjah.
Iranians could not attend this year’s hajj ritual as Riyadh could not soothe Tehran’s concerns over security issues after 464 Iranian pilgrims lost their lives in a crush in Mina during the last year’s hajj pilgrimage.
On Sunday, Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais took to the podium to deliver the sermon.
Saudi Arabia issued a death toll of 769 but figures compiled from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally nearly three times higher.
Saudi Arabia announced an investigation into the stampede but no results have ever been released.
On Sunday, helicopters monitored the crowd flow from the skies, while on the ground, police directed pedestrians and made sure there were no bottlenecks.
Aerial photographs on Saudi television showed rivers of pilgrims flowing toward the Jamarat on multiple roads.
Pilgrims have told AFP they feel safe and noticed organisational improvements.
For the first time in almost three decades, 64,000 pilgrims from Iran are not participating in the hajj, after the regional rivals failed to agree on security and logistics.
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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Just days before this year’s Haj, which began on Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei questioned Saudi Arabia’s right to manage Islam’s holiest sites.