Ronny Sompie, the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s immigration director general, said on Wednesday that the Indonesian government would cooperate with the Philippine government to bring back the haj pilgrims through the Philippines.
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Iranian authorities – who assert that more than 4,500 people died during last year’s disaster, according to The New York Times – announced in May that Saudi Arabia had made insufficient progress in addressing safety concerns.
Riyadh issued a death toll of 769, although figures compiled from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a stampede tally of roughly 2,300.
Egyptian pilgrim Mahmoud Awny said the feeling of being on Mount Arafat is “indescribable”.
Hajj begins on the eighth day of the Dhu al-Hijjah lunar month, as per the Islamic calendar ending on the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have been engaged in a public verbal spat following a stampede at the annual haj pilgrimage past year in which hundreds of pilgrims – many of them Iranians – died.
He called the Saudi ruling family “puny Satans” who had politicised the pilgrimage.
“There has been a clear improvement”, he said. They picked up pebbles along the way that will be used in a symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina, where Muslims believe the devil tried to talk the Prophet Ibrahim – named Abraham in the Bible – out of submitting to God’s will.
But news of the Ayatollah’s absence has not diminished the enthusiasm of the pilgrims.
Elevated cameras stationed several metres apart filmed the pilgrims, most clad in white and moving behind coloured flags identifying their groups. Indonesia – the most populous Muslim nation – has the largest contingent.
It was created to prevent overcrowding.
Pilgrims cross a “stoning bridge” to cast the stones, which are about the size of gravel, at walls.
“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.
He congratulated citizens and pilgrims for the day of Eid and praised the efforts of security officials to ensure the Haj remains incident free.
Noting that the Saudi regime has been to insolent as not to apologize to Muslim countries for its failure to properly handle the religious rituals, the Iranian official added that Riyadh even goes as far as impeding Iranian Hajj pilgrims from performing one of the most important Islamic obligations.
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The day spent on Mount Arafat is the pinnacle of the five-day hajj pilgrimage, which all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform at least once.
