MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims have been flocking to Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale.
Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims had arrived in the country as of Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from around the world. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday.
Saudi authorities said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed Hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage.
The pilgrims included 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Mecca earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were unable to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year because of the 8-month war between Israel and Hamas.
On Tuesday, pilgrims thronged Mecca’s Grand Mosque, carrying out a ritual circuit walking seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure inside the mosque that is considered Islam’s holiest site. They wore ihrams, two sheets of seamless white cloth that resemble a shroud.
Many were seen carrying umbrellas against the sun in temperatures that reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) during the day on Tuesday.
“I was relieved when I arrived at Al-Masjid Al-Haram and saw the Kaaba,” said Rabeia al-Raghi, a Moroccan woman who came to Mecca for Hajj along with her husband and daughter. “I am really happy.”
At night, the vast marble courtyard surrounding the Kaaba was packed with worshipers, walking almost shoulder to shoulder and often bumping into barricades set up by security forces to direct the gigantic flows of people in and around the Grand Mosque.
Pilgrims make the circumambulation, known as “Tawaf” in Arabic, upon arrival in Mecca. The large crowds surrounding the Kaaba will last until the first day of the Hajj.
On Friday, pilgrims will head to Arafat Mountain for a day-long vigil, then to Muzdalifah, a rocky plain just a few kilometers away. In Muzdalifa, pilgrims collect pebbles to be used in the symbolic stoning of the pillars representing the devil in Mina.
One of the largest religious gatherings in the world, the Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims are required to perform it at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially capable of doing so.
Those who participate in the Hajj see the pilgrimage as an opportunity to strengthen their faith, eliminate old sins and start anew.
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