Mina. Greater than 1,000,000 Muslims left Mecca on Friday, a metropolis in Saudi Arabia the place they started the hajj – their nice annual pilgrimage – in stifling warmth, to spend the evening within the big camp of Mina, within the west of the dominion.
The devoted, wearing robes, arrived by bus or on foot to the Mina camp after performing the “tawaf” ceremony, which consists of strolling seven occasions across the Kaaba, the black cubic construction towards which Muslims all over the world pray. , positioned within the coronary heart of the Nice Mosque.
“God is nice” or “God, we reply your name,” chanted the pilgrims, who traveled from all around the world, flooded with non secular fervor.
Individuals, who numbered 1.5 million on Monday, will face intense warmth this yr, with day by day most forecasts of 44 levels Celsius.
“It is very, very popular,” mentioned Fahad Azmar, a 31-year-old Pakistani. “However I thank God for the chance to be right here.”
The devoted will spend the evening in heated tents in Mina, a valley surrounded by rocky mountains a number of kilometers from Mecca. This lodging is organized by nationalities and costs.
Intisham el Ahi, a 44-year-old Pakistani, shares his tent with dozens of his compatriots. “There must be extra space between the beds, and the air con does not work very properly (…) however haj is synonymous with endurance,” he mentioned.
Water sprayers have been put in outdoors to chill the ambiance and safety guards spray passersby with water bottles.
Saturday is anticipated to be an particularly powerful day of prayer for pilgrims on Mount Arafat. Based on the spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Well being, Mohammed al Abdulali, final yr they needed to deal with greater than 10,000 individuals with heat-related issues.
With the struggle between Israel and the Islamist motion Hamas within the Gaza Strip, many pilgrims say they pray for the inhabitants of the Palestinian territory, bombed and besieged for greater than eight months.
“Photos of struggle”
The struggle broke out on October 7 with the bloody assault by Hamas in opposition to Israel, which killed 1,194 individuals, based on an AFP report based mostly on Israeli knowledge.
In retaliation, Israel launched a significant army offensive in opposition to Gaza that has left greater than 37,200 lifeless, based on the well being ministry of the territory’s Hamas-led authorities.
In Islam’s holiest metropolis, Moroccan Zahra Benizahra, 78, couldn’t maintain again tears as she spoke of the “photographs of struggle, the displaced, the lifeless youngsters.”
“Our brothers are dying, we see it with our personal eyes,” mentioned this pilgrim.
Arriving from Indonesia, the nation with the most important variety of Muslims, Belinda Elham additionally expressed her disappointment concerning the battle.
“When our brothers undergo, we undergo,” says the 43-year-old lady.
The Saudi monarchy introduced this week that it was going to take cost of the pilgrimage of a thousand kin of the victims of the struggle in Gaza, bringing the variety of Palestinians benefiting from this initiative to 2,000.
However he additionally warned, by the minister in control of the hajj, Tawfiq al Rabiah, that he won’t enable any political demonstrations on the pilgrimage, strictly devoted to prayer.
The hajj, consisting of a collection of rituals over a number of days in and round Mecca, is likely one of the 5 pillars of Islam.
If they’ve the means, all Muslims ought to take part in it at the very least as soon as of their life.
Some generally wait years for the chance to make the journey, as Saudi Arabia distributes permits on a country-by-country quota system.
The group of the hajj is a supply of legitimacy for Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign holds the title of “guardian of the 2 holy mosques” in Mecca and Medina.
Nevertheless it additionally represents a major logistical problem for the dominion, which can obtain greater than 1.8 million pilgrims in 2023, 90 p.c from overseas.
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– 2024-06-17 09:39:48
