SAUDI ARABIA: Muslim pilgrims arrive at Mount Arafat, for prayer and reflection on what's considered the most important day of the annual Haj

Record ID: 189035

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Muslim pilgrims arrive at Mount Arafat, for prayer and reflection on what's considered the most important day of the annual Haj
  • Date: 25th October 2012
  • Summary: PILGRIMS WALKING AND CHANTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN PILGRIM, AMNEH SHAMARI, SAYING "Today is the great day of the Haj, the most beautiful day."
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,People,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA55IUI6HBHM5XN8IZ4VYO8YKP
  • Story Text: Haj pilgrims arrived in their hundreds of thousands at Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Thursday (October 25) for the Day of Arafat.
    The day of Arafat is the climax of the Haj, where pilgrims spend the day in prayer.
    The hilltop and the surrounding plain is where the Prophet Mohammad is believed to have delivered his final Haj sermon before his death.
    Nearly 3 million Muslims were expected to perform Haj this year.
    One Syrian pilgrim told Reuters he had prayed for an end to unrest in his homeland.

    "I called on God to calm down situations all over Arab countries, and change to better the situation of Islam and Muslims. And that the situation calms down in Syria and Syria will become safe and secure,'' said Adnan Terkawi.
    The Haj is an annual pilgrimage that Muslims make to Mecca with the intention of performing religious rites as taught by the Prophet Mohammad to his followers 14 centuries ago. It is mandatory once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it and is the fifth pillar of Islam and the most significant manifestation of Islamic faith and unity.

    "This is the big day in my life and I feel too much holy and too much happy. We don't have feeling to express this, how much I feel," Makbul said.

    "Today is the great day of the Haj, the most beautiful day,'' added a young Syrian pilgrim Amneh Shamari.
    Many Muslims spend years looking forward to the journey.

    "For five years I have been hoping to come. I used to cry each time I saw the pilgrims on TV until finally God brought me here and I witnessed it. I feel that this life is nothing,'' said Egyptian pilgrim Sahar Hanafi.
    The annual Haj begins in the 12th month of the Islamic year, which is lunar, not solar.
    Most pilgrims are from Asia, especially Indonesia which has the highest Haj quota.
    The quota system was introduced in 1987 following an agreement by all member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation to limit the number allowed by each country to 0.1 percent of its population.
    Stampedes, tent fires and other accidents have caused hundreds of deaths in the past 30 years, forcing the government to build new infrastructure.
    In 2011, Saudi Arabia began the biggest expansion yet of the Grand Mosque, to increase its capacity to 2 million. A new railway will link the holy sites around Mecca.
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