MECCA-----JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND
M
People dressed in ihram, a two-piece
seamless garment of white cloth, filled the area around the Grand Mosque,
Islam’s holiest place of worship, which houses the cube-shaped Kaaba and is
witnessing massive construction work.
Muslim pilgrims leave after
performing the Friday prayer at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, on October 11, 2013 as
hundreds of thousands of Muslims have poured into the holy city of Mecca for
the annual hajj pilgrimage. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is
mandatory once in a lifetime for all Muslims provided they are physically fit
and financially capable. AFP PHOTO
Just two days before the official
start of the hajj, around one million faithful performed Friday prayers at the
Grand Mosque as the cleric who officiated called for a peaceful and quiet hajj.
Sheikh Saleh bin Mohammed al-Taleb
also called on Muslims to unite and end disputes.
Authorities stepped up preparations
as police closed most entrances to the Grand Mosque to vehicles, turning
traffic in the area around the site into a menacing experience.
The hajj is one of the five pillars
of Islam and is mandatory once in a lifetime for all Muslims provided they are
physically fit and financially capable.
“I am very excited and extremely
happy. I feel I am a very lucky person that I am performing the hajj,” said
Hamza Suleiman, a 56-year-old civil servant from Malaysia.
“I registered for the hajj 10 years
ago and my turn came this year. I really want to come here every year,” he told
AFP in the Grand Mosque courtyard.
Egyptian businessman Ahmad
al-Bahrawi, who is performing the hajj for the sixth time, accompanied by his
wife, said “it’s an entirely different feeling that cannot be described when I
enter the Grand Mosque and look at the Kaaba.”
Due to the scare from the MERS
coronavirus, which has already killed 51 in Saudi Arabia, and high pollution
from vehicles emissions, some pilgrims and security men wore face masks and
also covered their heads to protect themselves from the scorching heat.
Saudi Health Minister Abdullah
al-Rabaia was quoted in the local media Thursday as saying that no MERS case
has been discovered among pilgrims.
An unexpected heavy downpour
accompanied by lightning washed the holy sites around Mecca on Wednesday
slightly delaying a planned parade by hajj security forces. Local media said
seven people were slightly hurt.
Officials said around 1.4 million
pilgrims have already arrived from abroad, with expectations of around two
million pilgrims this year. That is sharply down from last year’s 3.2 million,
due to forced cuts as a result of expansion work and the scare from MERS, short
for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
Road blocks were set up on all roads
leading to Mecca and people who did not carry official permits were turned
back. This year, security patrols are deployed in remote and deserted roads to
block illegals.
As turmoil continues to hit most of
the Arab world, Interior Minister Prince Mohamed bin Nayef Wednesday warned
Muslim pilgrims against exploiting the hajj for political purposes.
“The kingdom is taking all
possibilities seriously especially that Saudi Arabia has recently been the
target of a violent terrorist campaign that did not exclude holy sites,” the
minister said.
That was a reference to Al-Qaeda
attacks that rocked the kingdom between 2003 and 2006, prompting a relentless
crackdown by authorities, which he oversaw.
“Hajj is not a place for political
disputes and sectarian differences,” he said.
Although Riyadh issues such a
warning at every pilgrimage, this year it was indirectly linked to reports that
members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood have been urging pilgrims to express
their support for the group after Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted
in July.
The oil-rich kingdom strongly backed
Morsi’s ouster, immediately pledging millions in aid to the new government.
The pilgrimage starts on Sunday and
ends on October 18.
Monday marks the most important day,
when everyone assembles at Mount Arafat, just outside Mecca, for the peak of
the hajj.
The kingdom has mobilised 95,000
members of the security forces, in addition to troops supporting the defence
ministry, the national guard and intelligence, according to the interior
minister.
He also said the king has approved
the creation of a permanent 40,000-strong special force to secure the
pilgrimage.
Though marred in the past by deadly
floods, stampedes and fires, the hajj has become nearly incident-free in recent
years because of multi-billion dollar projects to improve security.
- See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/muslim-pilgrims-throng-mecca-hajj/#sthash.tiWhLy6g.dpuf
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