- At least 160,000 Pakistanis will also perform the Hajj this year.
- Pilgrims come from around 180 countries around the world.
- Imam Maher Al Muaiqly of the Grand Mosque will deliver the Hajj sermon.
More than 1.5 million Muslims from around 180 countries began praying on Mount Arafat on Saturday to mark the “Day of Arafah” – considered the pinnacle of the great holy pilgrimage – on the ninth day of Zil Hajj, a day after marking the start of Hajj 1445 from the tented city of Mina on the day of Tarwiyah.
At least 160,000 Pakistanis will also perform the grand pilgrimage this year, joining hundreds of thousands of domestic and international pilgrims amid soaring temperatures.
The pilgrims arrived at Jabal al-Rahmah and will listen to the Hajj sermon at Masjid-e-Nimrah with translation into 50 different languages, including Urdu. They will also offer Zuhr and Asr prayers in Arafah.
The Hajj sermon will be delivered by Sheikh Maher Al Muaiqly, an imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
The pilgrims will then spend the whole day praying at the Arafah field and depart for Muzdalifah in the evening.
After offering the Maghrib and Isha prayer in Muzdalifah, they will perform Rami al-Jamarat by collecting stones to carry out the symbolic ritual of stoning the devil in Mina on Sunday (tomorrow).
The pilgrims will then return to Mecca to celebrate Eid ul Adha and perform sacrifices.
Worshipers from around the world will climb the 70-meter (230-foot) rocky hill, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mecca, where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) delivered his last sermon, reported AFP.
Challenging heat
Summer heat in the desert is expected to reach 43°C. The Hajj, which lasts at least five days and takes place mainly outdoors, “is not easy because it is very hot,” said Abraman Hawa, 26, of Ghana.
“We have sun… but it is not that hot. But I will pray to Allah in Arafat, because I need his support,” he added.
Saudi authorities have urged pilgrims to drink plenty of water and protect themselves from the sun. Since men are prohibited from wearing hats, many carry umbrellas.
More than 10,000 heat-related illnesses were recorded last year, 10% of them heatstroke, a Saudi official said. AFP this week.
The Hajj, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, is increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study which said regional temperatures were rising by 0.4C every decade.
But Mohammed Farouk, a 60-year-old Pakistani pilgrim, was not intimidated by the Gulf kingdom's scorching summer sun.
The Hajj is “very important to me as a Muslim,” he said.
Windfall financial gain
The huge crowds of worshipers spent the night in a giant tent city in Mina, a valley several kilometers from Mecca, Islam's holiest city.
Many of them were crammed into air-conditioned tents, lying close together on narrow mattresses.
They were grouped by nationality and price, depending on how much they had paid for their Hajj packages (usually several thousand dollars).
The Hajj is said to follow the path of the Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) last pilgrimage, some 1,400 years ago.
It is an important source of legitimacy for the Al Saud dynasty, whose monarch has the title of “guardian of the two holy mosques” in Mecca and Medina.
It is also a major financial windfall for the conservative country, which is trying to develop religious tourism as part of a campaign to reduce its dependence on crude oil.
The kingdom received more than 1.8 million Hajj pilgrims last year, about 90% of whom came from abroad.
It also welcomed 13.5 million Muslims who came to perform the Umrah, the small pilgrimage that can be carried out throughout the year and which aims to reach 30 million by 2030.
This year's Hajj takes place in the shadow of the Gaza war, after eight months of bloodshed that is an open wound for many in the Muslim world.
First stage of Hajj 'successfully completed'
At a press conference in Mecca on the first day of Hajj at the Media Center of the Ministry of Information, the spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior of Saudi Arabia said that the first stage of Hajj 1445 was successfully completed.
The process of transferring Hajj pilgrims to Mina was carried out according to the established schedule.
The spokesperson maintained that any attempt to disturb the peace of the pilgrims and the Hajj during the holy pilgrimage will not be tolerated.
“So far, 160 fake Hajj service establishments have been sealed, while 6,135 violators of Iqama rules have been detained,” the spokesperson added.
