SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims attend prayers at Grand Mosque, pack Mecca ahead of annual haj
Record ID:
1532793
SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims attend prayers at Grand Mosque, pack Mecca ahead of annual haj
- Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims attend prayers at Grand Mosque, pack Mecca ahead of annual haj
- Date: 15th December 2007
- Summary: CLOSE OF CHILD IN THE CROWD
- Embargoed: 30th December 2007 12:13
- Keywords:
- Location: Saudi Arabia
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA8OTKSTAU44Q60DWNBWXL7FUI3
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: About one million Muslim pilgrims from across the world packed the
mosque and streets around the Kaaba shrine in the holy city of Mecca for the
last Friday prayers before the annual haj pilgrimage.
Pilgrims trekked to the mosque hours in advance to reserve a space for
their prayer mats as close as possible to the Kaaba, a cubic stone structure
which Muslims regard as the centre of an ancestral monotheistic cult
established by the prophet Ibrahim, known to Jews and Christians as the
patriarch Abraham.
When the spaces in the inner courtyard filled up, the pilgrims chose
spaces in the outer courtyard. Latecomers spread their mats on stairways of
the shopping mall overlooking the vast mosque and later in the narrow alleys
behind.
More than 1.4 million have flocked to Saudi Arabia to prepare for the
five-day rites which start on Monday (December 17) and are a
once-in-a-lifetime obligation for every Muslim who can afford it.
Friday prayers in the Grand Mosque are not part of the haj programme
but many pilgrims attend as a matter of course.
They sat for hours, murmuring prayers, reading from pocket Korans and
doing their homework on the complex and gruelling rituals they will perform
next week.
While Muslims in most places pray in parallel lines facing Mecca, in
Mecca they pray in circles centred on the Kaaba.
By the time the pilgrimage rituals start with a mass circumambulation
of the Kaaba, Saudis and residents of the kingdom will have taken the total
beyond two million.
The haj is often described as the world's biggest religious gathering,
and men and women from more than 100 countries take part. Some of the largest
contingents come from Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
''I feel great here. This is a great opportunity for me to be one of
the haj, it's about 3.5 million people in the street here, they came to haj
and I am really proud of that as to practice one of the most important rokoun
(pillars) of Islam'' said Iraqi-Canadian pilgrim Hilmi Hussein.
Saudi state television said on Thursday (December 13) the police were
taking strict measures to keep out aspiring pilgrims who do not have
permission to attend.
One of the biggest concerns for the Saudi authorities is managing the
large crowds and preventing stampedes and crushes.
The previous haj was spared any major incident but in the January 2006
pilgrimage 362 people were crushed to death during a stone-throwing ritual at
the Jamarat Bridge. It was the worst haj tragedy in 16 years. Even at the
prayers on Friday, crowding was a problem in some areas, with pilgrims able to
move only at a snail's pace. Elderly pilgrims in wheelchairs or accompanied by
relatives to help them walk added to the congestion. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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