SAUDI ARABIA: Thousands of Muslims pray outside the Grand Mosque in Mecca ahead of the official beginning of the Haj pilgrimage

Record ID: 188832

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Thousands of Muslims pray outside the Grand Mosque in Mecca ahead of the official beginning of the Haj pilgrimage
  • Date: 4th November 2011
  • Summary: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (NOVEMBER 03, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PILGRIMS GATHERING AT THE GRAND MOSQUE FOR AFTERNOON PRAYERS ONE PILGRIM WAVING THE TUNISIAN FLAG FOR HIS GROUP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PILGRIM FROM JORDAN, RASMIA AL SHIBLY, SAYING: "The official Haj begins tomorrow when we go up to Mount Arafat, it is a grate feeling, thank God." HELICOPTER FLYING OVER GRAND MOSQUE AREA VARIOUS OF WOMEN TAKING PART IN AFTERNOON PRAYERS OUTSIDE THE YARDS AND STREETS OF THE GRAND MOSQUE IN MECCA MEN PRAYING MORE OF PRAYERS PILGRIMS LEAVING AT THE END OF PRAYERS
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA59SNEHQOPXMI8ZGGEW9430TX1
  • Story Text: Thousands of Muslims stood shoulder to shoulder and performed afternoon prayers outside the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Thursday (November 03).
    Islam's holiest site was bustling with pilgrims from across the world keen to perform their Haj pilgrimage.
    "The official Haj begins tomorrow when we go up to Mount Arafat, it is a grate feeling, thank God," said one pilgrim, Rasmia al Shibly, who had travelled from Jordan.
    Haj starts on the eighth day of the lunar month of Dhul Hijja, which falls this year on Friday (November 04). Most pilgrims come earlier to visit the holy mosques in Mecca
    and nearby Medina, where the prophet Mohammad was buried over 1,400 years ago.
    It's estimated more than 1.5 million are already in the city, and thousands more are expected to arrive in the coming days.
    The price of going on the Haj can be costly, with many pilgrims saving for a lifetime and spending thousands of U.S. dollars to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam.
    The Grand Mosque is the main attraction for over six million pilgrims who enter Mecca throughout the year, of which 2.5 million - 3 million pilgrims visit the city during the Haj.
    Among the rites they must perform during the three-day pilgrimage, pilgrims must walk seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building at the centre of the Grand Mosque,
    pray at nearby Mount Arafat and ritually stone the devil by hurling pebbles at three walls.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register