About1.5 million Islamic pilgrims thronged Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Monday for the great factor of the yearly Hajj, as top Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdul Aziz advised Muslims to prevent divisions, disorder and sectarianism.Helicopters hovered expense and a large variety of soldiers was standing secure to arrange streets filled with men, females and kids.
Chanting “Labaik Allahuma Labaik” (I am responding to your call,God), many of them camped in little camps and took housing under plants to evade temperature ranges of around 40 degree Celsius. Unique sprinklers were set up to cool the pilgrims.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz , who heads Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, said in his annual sermon to the Muslim world:-
“Your nation is a trust with you. You must safeguard its security, stability and resources .You should know that you are targeted by your enemy… who wants to spread chaos among you … It’s time to confront this.”
He did not talk particularly of Syria, where Sunni-led rebels are at war with a program led by Alawites – an offshoot of Shia Islam – and closely allied with Shia Iran and Hezbollah.But the cleric remembered the Islamic prohibition of eliminating and violence, while requiring there is “no salvation or happiness for the Muslim nation without adhering to the teachings of the religion”.
Governor of Makkah province and head of the Central Haj Committee Prince Khalid al Faisal said 1.38 million pilgrims had came from outside of kingdom while only 117,000 Hajj allows were released for domestic pilgrims.This puts the total number of pilgrims this season at almost 1.5 million, less than 50 percent of last season’s 3.2 million, after Riyadh reduced Haj quotas.
Authorities have also captured as many as 138,000 automobiles for breaking the Hajj guidelines, and owners will be penatilised, the prince said.Saudi health regulators have pressured that no situations of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus have been recognized so far this pilgrimage. The illness has murdered 60 individuals globally, 51 of them in Saudi Arabia.
The pilgrims reached Arafat from nearby Mina where most of them spent the night following the practices of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who performed the rituals 14 centuries ago.They had moved to Mina on Sunday from the holy city of Makkah,home to the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest place of worship.
On reaching Arafat, they populated onto the mountain and the wide simply surrounding it to wish until sunset, when they were due to set off for Muzdalifah for a ritual symbolising the stoning of the devil.
61-year-old Algerian pensioner Saeed Dherari said:-
“I will pray the whole day for God to improve the situation for Muslims worldwide and an end to disputes and bloodshed in Arab countries”.
75-year-old Ahmad Khader, who hails from the southern Syrian province of Daraa said:-
“I hope that God will grace all Muslims with security and stability.”
He said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s embattled government;-
“The regime is tyrannical and I pray for God to help the oppressed people.”
Egyptian Ahmad Ali, who was performing Haj for the first time, prayed for peace after hundreds were killed in recent months in fighting between security forces and Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
Ali told AFP:-
“I pray for Egypt to enjoy security and stability and for the people to reach understanding and reconciliation.”
The Haj, which officially ends on Friday, is one of the five pillars of Islam that every capable Muslim must perform at least once.
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