Pilgrims flock to Mt Arafat for Haj

AFTER NOON prayers, worshippers traditionally ascend the 70-metre (230-foot) high hill and its surrounding plain for hours of prayers and Koran recitals to atone for their sins, staying there until the evening.

Mecca, July 19: Muslim pilgrims gathered at Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat on Monday in the high point of this year’s Haj, being held in downsized form and under Coronavirus restrictions for the second year running.

Just 60,000 people, all citizens or residents of Saudi Arabia, have been selected to take part in this year’s Haj, with foreign pilgrims again barred.

The mask-clad faithful, who had spent the night in camps in the Valley of Mina, converged on Mount Arafat where it is believed the Prophet Mohammed delivered his final sermon, for the most important of the Haj rituals.

After noon prayers, worshippers traditionally ascend the 70-metre (230foot) high hill and its surrounding plain for hours of prayers and Koran recitals to atone for their sins, staying there until the evening.

After sunset they head to Muzdalifah, halfway between Arafat and Mina, where they will sleep under the stars before performing the symbolic “stoning of the devil”.

The scene was dramatically different to past pilgrimages, which have drawn up to 2.5 million people, and this year the mountain was free of the huge crowds that descend on it in normal years.

Being one of the lucky few “gives you a feeling that our God is forgiving and has chosen us to be in this place,” said Selma Mohamed Hegazi, a 45year-old Egyptian. “God willing, our prayers will be accepted.

“My whole body is shivering,” she said as she stood among the other emotional pilgrims, wearing the ihram, the traditional seamless white garment worn during the Haj. Worshippers described a sense of tranquility descending on the mountain, also known as the “Mount of Mercy”.

“To be one of only 60,000 doing Haj .... I feel like I am part of a (privileged) group that was able to reach this place,” said Baref Siraj, a 58-year-old Saudi national.

The Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims with the means to travel at least once in their lifetime, is usually one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.

Hosting the Haj is a matter of prestige for Saudi rulers, for whom the custodianship of Islam’s holiest sites is their most powerful source of political legitimacy.

But barring overseas pilgrims has caused deep disappointment among Muslims worldwide, who typically save for years to take part.

Participants were chosen from more than 558,000 applicants through an online vetting system, with the event confined to fully vaccinated adults aged 18-65 with no chronic illnesses.

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