Caution prevails, but pilgrims are allowed to ascend Mount Arafat
Coronavirus health precautions shaped this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia, as 60,000 pilgrims approached, but were not allow to ascend, Mount Arafat until noon yesterday.
The customary scene of hundreds of thousands of people on the mountain was not permitted this year, as pilgrim numbers were cut to a fraction of their usual size.
Social distancing and other coronavirus precautions were put in place by the Saudi authorities to ensure the pilgrimage – one of Islam’s five pillars – is performed in safety.
The Hajj is one of Islam’s most important requirements, to be performed at least once in a lifetime if possible.
It follows a route the Prophet Mohammed walked more than 1,400 years ago and is believed to trace the footsteps of the Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail.
Yesterday was the second day of the five-day pilgrimage, and worshippers who travelled from Mina stood behind barriers in groups of 20 or sat metres apart in air-conditioned tents, reciting prayers and reading verses from the Quran.
Authorities allowed some pilgrims on to Mount Arafat about mid-day.
“The day of Arafat is crucial for Muslims and especially for pilgrims during Hajj. This is the day we hope Allah forgives us all our sins. This is the day our Prophet gave his last sermon on Mount Arafat and Allah completed our religion,” a pilgrim named Samira said.
“Just standing on the same ground where a verse from the Quran was revealed to our beloved Prophet makes my body shake. I am filled with gratitude.”
Only a vaccinated few, who are between the ages of 18 and 65 and reside in Saudi Arabia, were eligible to perform the pilgrimage this year.
The National spoke to pilgrims who took great happiness at their fortune.
“To be one of only 60,000 doing Hajj ... I feel like I am part of a [privileged] group that was able to reach this place,” said Baref Siraj, 58.
Umm Omar, 62, said yesterday was the “best day of my life”.
“Today, I feel like I have achieved the purpose I was sent for and I am able to complete my religion. This is the most gratifying experience of my life,” she said.
Volunteers helping the event to run smoothly were also enthused about the process.
“Hajj is about embracing everyone for who they are, with no issues of rank or authority,” said Adnan, a volunteer.
“We sleep together, eat together and dress the same way.”
For afternoon prayers, pilgrims attended Al Namirah Mosque where they heard a sermon about kindness before the dhuhr and asr prayers began.
After a drizzly morning, temperatures rose in the afternoon.
“My phone died due to the heat – that’s when I knew it was time to go in the shade and get some rest,” said a pilgrim.
After prayers, many headed back towards Arafat, where they rested until sunset.
Also marking this occasion were the sons of a veteran mutawwif, or pilgrimage guide, who took up the mantle after their father died in August.
Majed Tounsi took his own sons to the Grand Mosque and reminisced about a time when he stood by his father’s side as a child during Hajj and Umrah.
“If something happens to me, you and your brothers will have to stay together and continue my work,” Taalat Tounsi said before his death, Majed recalled.
“We all decided to work this year for the first time in the service of pilgrims, to honour the memory of our father,” the 32-year-old doctor said.
The Tounsi family have been serving as guides for 80 years.
Taalat was a sports journalist before devoting himself to his vocation. He died at the age of 52, leaving six sons and two daughters.
After leaving Mount Arafat, pilgrims travelled to Muzdalifah overnight before performing the stoning of the Devil ritual.
Abdul Mashat, deputy minister of Hajj and Umrah, said 1,700 buses were laid on to take the pilgrims from Mina to Muzdalifa, where they spent the night before the third day of Hajj.
The pilgrimage ends with the Eid Al Adha celebration, marked by the distribution of meat to the poor around the world.