SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims attend prayers at Grand Mosque, pack Mecca ahead of annual haj

Record ID: 1532794

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims attend prayers at Grand Mosque, pack Mecca ahead of annual haj
  • Date: 15th December 2007
  • Summary: MORE PILGRIMS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIRA LIMB, BOSNIAN PILGRIM, SAYING ''It is difficult for old people and I will say to other young people to come here when they are young and not to wait (until) we are old people. It is very difficult for old people, and it's my pleasure.'' ELDERLY PILGRIMS/MINERAT
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2007 12:13
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA2TDSNM3OTOX3V9MCP9I5SWHJJ
  • 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.
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