SAUDI ARABIA: Thousands of Muslim pilgrims perform the rites of the umra at Mecca's Grand Mosque a week before the Haj

Record ID: 188815

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Thousands of Muslim pilgrims perform the rites of the umra at Mecca's Grand Mosque a week before the Haj
  • Date: 28th October 2011
  • Summary: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (OCTOBER 27, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PILGRIMS WALKING TO THE GRAND MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAZILA, A MALAYSIAN PILGRIM, SAYING: "At the first time I saw the Kaaba (the cube-shaped stone shrine at the centre of the Grand Mosque) I feel tears in my eyes, I couldn't believe it, I am here in the holy land and Allah (God) called me and my husband to perform the Haj this year." ROAD SIGN PILGRIMS WALKING TO THE GRAND MOSQUE VARIOUS OF FAMOUS MECCA PIGEONS ON THE ROAD TO THE GRAND MOSQUE PILGRIMS HEADED TO MOSQUE AT TIME OF PRAYER GRAND MOSQUE MINARETS, WITH A CALL TO PRAYER SAUDI CIVIL DEFENCE MEMBER WATCHING AS PILGRIMS PREPARE FOR PRAYERS AT THE GRAND MOSQUE VARIOUS OF PAKISTANI PILGRIM PLAYING HIS ROSARY OUTSIDE THE GRAND MOSQUE VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF MUSLIM WORSHIPPERS PRAYING OUTSIDE THE GRAND MOSQUE CLOSE OF A PILGRIMS FINGER TAPPING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FARAJ MAHROUS, EGYPTIAN PILGRIM, SAYING: "Actually this is my first Haj after the revolution in Egypt, the arrangements are completely different comparing with the past, now there is more care about the Egyptian pilgrimage, the Haj of Egyptians, there is more facility even in housing, even in transportation, people are being received at the airport, this has never happened before." PILGRIMS LEAVING THE GRAND MOSQUE AFTER PRAYERS
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVADUAESFIDBABUYM7NY0QF69BWB
  • Story Text: Muslim pilgrims continued to flock to the holy Saudi city of Mecca on Thursday (October 27) to perform the rites of the umra, a visit, ahead of the annual Muslim Haj starting starting next week, where some three million pilgrims are expected to congregate.
    The annual Haj is one of the world's biggest religious gatherings, bringing together millions of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam.
    "At the first time I saw the Kabaa I feel tears in my eyes, I couldn't believe it, I am here in the holy land and Allah (God) called me and my husband to perform the Haj this year," said Mazila, a pilgrim from Malaysia.
    "Actually this is my first Haj after the revolution in Egypt, the arrangements are completely different comparing with the past, now there is more care about the Egyptian pilgrimage, the Haj of Egyptians, there is more facility even in housing, even in transportation, people are being received at the airport, this has never happened before," added Faraj Mahrous, a pilgrim from Egypt.
    The pilgrimage itself takes at least six days, starting on the 8th day of the lunar month of Dhul Hijja, which falls this year in early November. But most pilgrims come earlier and first perform the rites of the umra, or lesser pilgrimage, which are confined to central Mecca.
    The Haj itinerary takes pilgrims out of Mecca to the plain of Arafat about 10 miles to the east, where they spend the afternoon of the second day. They then return to Mecca in stages, stopping on the way to throw pebbles at a wall, representing defiance of the devil. In Mecca they repeat the rites of the umra, including the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the cube-shaped stone shrine at the centre of the Grand Mosque.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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