Saudi king rejects mixing hajj with politics

A local media reports that Saudi Arabia security forces were deployed in large numbers in the Jamarat Bridge, a multi-level structure in the desert valley of Mina, where the ritual is being carried out.

Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites and organizing the hajj, a role that Iranian authorities have challenged this week as part of the dispute over the handling of last year’s disaster.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, a requirement for every Muslim to visit the holy city Mecca and to carry out the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able to.

Muslims on the five-day pilgrimage spent a day there in deep prayer, many openly weeping as they repented and asked God for forgiveness.

Security was one of the contentious issues following last year’s hajj stampede which, according to foreign officials, killed roughly 2,300 people.

Under a bank of monitors broadcasting live footage from more than 5,000 cameras, Saudi officers have kept their eyes on every route and gathering spot at this year’s hajj pilgrimage.

Pilgrims threw pebbles they had gathered in nearby Muzdalifah on Sunday evening at walls representing the devil.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said on Tuesday the Haj should not be used to achieve sectarian or political aims.

“I have prayed to God to have mercy on us, give us relief and resolve Syria’s crisis”, said Umm Fadi, wearing a traditional long black embroidered dress and head scarf native to her home in southern Syria.

He indicated, “These hands have targeted the fate of Muslim nations and the unity of the Muslim world in its confrontation with the common danger of Zionism and worldwide terrorism”. After the tragedy, the government has announced an investigation but no conclusions have been released.

Among these is the distribution of a bracelet which stores pilgrims’ personal data.

The tragic incident took place when two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads during the symbolic ceremony of the stoning of Satan in Jamarat in September 2015.

Helicopters have been monitoring the flow of pilgrims, while police have been directing them on the ground to make sure there are no bottlenecks.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday said it had launched a television channel to broadcast the Hajj rituals in the Persian language, also known as Farsi, spoken in Iran.

The numbers are down this year because of the absence of 64,000 Iranians over tensions between their Shiite nation and the Sunni-dominated kingdom.

Makkah: The General Authority for Statistics revealed that the total number of pilgrims for this year’s Hajj (1437 AH) reached 1,862,909 pilgrims, a decline of about 4.6 per cent (89,908 pilgrims), compared to the number of pilgrims last year (1436 AH), whose number accounted for 1,952,817 pilgrims.