Millions of Muslims Throng Mount Arafat as Haj Reaches Climax

Saudi Arabia has rolled out a special metro train service for this year’s Haj season that will allow almost 3,70,000 pilgrims to travel daily from Mecca to Arafat and help reduce traffic congestion.

At least 717 people, including four Indians, were killed and over 860 injured in a stampede on Thursday during Haj here, in the second worst ever tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Later yesterday, the pilgrims descended to the plain of Muzdalifah, where they collected pebbles to “stone the devil” at a rite today. One Indian pilgrim was injured in the stampede.

“If people are disciplined, such incidents won’t take place”, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani, secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, told IANS over the phone from Hyderabad.

After offering prayers at Arafat, pilgrims will return to tent-city of Mina to perform the ritual of animal sacrifice. “We feel blessed. I got goosebumps, a feeling that can not be explained, when reaching the top of the mountain”, said Ruhaima Emma, a 26-year-old Filipina pilgrim, who said she has been “praying for a good life for everyone”.

Unlike in previous years, only a few pilgrims were seen carrying their countries flags, in what Saudi media said was a “ban” during the pilgrimage.

But on September 11, during severe winds, a construction crane toppled into a courtyard of Mecca’s Grand Mosque.

He and others had earlier prayed and recited the Quran at Mount Arafat, a 300-metre-high (328 yards) slippery, rocky hill where they believe the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) gave his last sermon 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on Hajj.

This year about 3,500 Indonesians relinquished places and postponed their trip, chiefly because of the rupiah’s dive to 17-year lows against the dollar.JAKARTA: It’s the time of year when Jakarta’s worldwide airport is packed with Muslim pilgrims waiting for flights to the holy city of Mecca. With the start of the haj, pilgrims enter ihram, a state of purity in which they must not quarrel, wear perfume, cut their nails, or trim their hair or beards.

During ihram, men wear a seamless two-piece shroud-like white garment, symbolising resurrection and emphasising unity regardless of social status or nationality.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mansour Al-Turki said the movement of pilgrims from Mecca to Mina was orderly and went according to a well-executed plan.

Most Yemeni pilgrims performing the hajj this year already reside in the kingdom. The Saudi health ministry has mobilised thousands of medical workers to care for routine ailments.