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Camping out at vast tented village, the pilgrims will spend the day in Mina in prayer and meditation
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MINA,
Saudi Arabia, January 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – More
than two million Muslim faithful started pouring into Mina, an arid
valley near the holy city of Makkah, Friday, January 30, on the first
day of the hajj rituals.
"Here
I am Allah, answering your call," chanted a chorus of pilgrims as
the huge crowd moved on foot or by bus along the road linking Makkah to
Mina, which has been transformed into a vast site of fireproof tents,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
journey began mid-morning, proceeding with calm and without major
incident amid mild weather conditions.
At
least 14,200 buses, with a capacity of 673,000 seats, were mobilized to
transport pilgrims, and 1,039 surveillance cameras were installed at
various main roads around the holy sites.
The
pilgrims will continue to stream through a mountain pass to Mina, some
two miles outside Makkah, throughout the day.
Men
are clad in a two-piece seamless white cloth which mark a state of
purity that erases all differences of race, class or culture, while
women are fully covered except for the hands and face.
Camping
out at vast tented village, the faithful will spend the day here in
prayer and meditation.
Before
dawn on Saturday, January 31, the pilgrims will move towards Mount
Arafat, a revered place in Islam where the Prophet Mohammad delivered
his last sermon 14 centuries ago, for the culmination of hajj.
Standing
on Mount Arafat before sunset is the high point of the hajj, and
pilgrims who fail to make it here on time must repeat their pilgrimage
in future.
On
Sunday, February 1, the pilgrims will throw stones at three pillars on
the spot where the Devil appeared to Prophet Abraham.
Eid
Al-Adha begins the same day, with the sacrificing
of sheep, goats and cows to commemorate Abraham's willingness to
sacrifice his son Ismail at God's command.
Able-bodied
Muslims perform hajj least once in their lifetime if they have the
financial means.
The
Hajj is one
of the “five pillars” of Islam, and thus an essential part of
Muslims’ faith and practice.
The
Hajj consists of several
ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic
faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.
Security
The
journey to Mina is taking place amid the tightest security measures,
imposed by the Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of the near two
million pilgrims,.
The
authorities have warned that they will not tolerate any attempt to
undermine security during the hajj.
Saudi
security forces captured a wanted militant and several other suspects
Thursday, January 29, after a firefight in Riyadh in which five
policemen were killed.
In
early November they said they had foiled a plot to attack pilgrims
gathered in Makkah during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and shot
dead two "terrorists."
Securing
the hajj is the top priority of the 5,000 Saudi police and military
deployed in and around Makkah, reported Reuters.
The
security forces are also in charge of controlling the vast sea of
pilgrims, after stampedes and crushes killed hundreds of people over the
last decade, including 14 last year.
"We
are ready for anything," Interior Minister Prince Nayef said
earlier this week after he toured Makkah ahead of the five-day rite.
Politics
Saudi
Arabia insists the hajj, one of the most striking manifestations of
faith and unity in the world today, should be solely a religious affair.
But
many pilgrims have politics on their mind.
"I
feel like any Muslim who comes to the house of God -- we want God to
give the Islamic nation success, to liberate our land from the Jews and
to return the al-Aqsa mosque (in Jerusalem) to Muslims,"
Palestinian pilgrim Ribhy Yaseen said.
"We
hope God will give success to the Muslim people around the world and
especially in our region," said Iraqi pilgrim Qadir Khidr.
Saudi
officials say over 40,000 Iraqi pilgrims are in Makkah, the biggest
number for years after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
