SAUDI ARABIA: THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS PILGRIMS PRAY AT THE GRAND MOSQUE AS PART OF THE HAJ PILGRIMAGE

Record ID: 189789

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS PILGRIMS PRAY AT THE GRAND MOSQUE AS PART OF THE HAJ PILGRIMAGE
  • Date: 7th February 2003
  • Summary: (W5) MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (FEBRUARY 7, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF MORE THAN A MILLION PILGRIMS GATHERED AT THE GRAND MOSQUE FOR FRIDAY PRAYERS 0.07 2. VARIOUS OF PILGRIMS PRAYING (3 SHOTS) 0.19 3. WIDE OF PILGRIMS PRAYING AROUND KABAA, ISLAM'S HOLIEST SITE 0.26 4. VARIOUS, PILGRIMS PRAYING IN MOSQUE SURROUNDINGS (3 SHOTS) 0.43 5. WIDE OF MOSQUE AND PILGRIMS / PAN OF PILGRIMS IN STREET NEAR MOSQUE (2 SHOTS) 0.55 6. TOPSHOT/ WIDE OF PILGRIMS IN STREET NEAR GRAND MOSQUE 1.04 7. WIDE OF PILGRIMS ON BRIDGE CROSSING INTO MOSQUE (2 SHOTS) 1.17 8. AERIAL OF PILGRIMS WALKING IN STREET 1.25 9. SLV PILGRIMS IN STREET 1.36 10. SMV PILGRIMS SITTING IN STREET 1.43 11. SLV MORE PILGRIMS WALKING IN STREET 1.49 12. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN HAYFA SHAHAL SAYING "They (Americans) are after oil and we as Arabs and Muslims should not allow them to achieve their target." 2.00 13. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALGERIAN MOHAMED BOJI SAYING: "When the Americans had command of Saudi Arabia they were happy, but when Saudi Arabia did what was honourable for the Kingdom they didnt want it anymore, the Americans, and they started looking for other places like Turkey." 2.21 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN RASHED HAMAD SAYING: "Bombing Iraq is very difficult for us to accept, but what can we do? It is out of our hands." 2.30 15. WIDE OF PILGRIMS OUTSIDE THE GRAND MOSQUE 2.37 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd February 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Reuters ID: LVAATCO09OS1II231KKWKAZSIRA8
  • Story Text: Tens of thousands of men in white clothes and women in
    veils have prayed on the Muslim Holy day around the
    cube-shaped Kaaba and the vicinity of the Grand Mosque in the
    prelude to Hajj, a journey in the footsteps of Islam's Prophet
    Mohammad.

    Nearly two million pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and around
    the globe are expected to attend the Hajj this year. The
    pilgrimage will be at its busiest on Sunday (February 9) and
    will last until next Thursday (February 13).



    More than a million Muslims prayed in Mecca (February
    7) on Friday as Saudi Arabia geared up for the biggest annual
    Muslim religious gathering that starts on Monday.

    A sea of hajj pilgrims thronged Mecca's Grand Mosque,
    Islam's holiest shrine, on the last weekly prayer,where prayer
    leader Imam Abdul al-Rahman al-sudis called on pilgrims to
    perform hajj peacefuly.

    The streets of the city surrounding the ancient shrine
    were crowded with pilgrims dressed in white, making the once
    in a lifetime journey following in the footsteps of the
    prophet Mohammad.

    The drumbeat of U.S war against neighbouring Iraq has
    coincided with the pilgrimage season this year. The U.S
    campaign has caused a growth of anti-American feeling that is
    sweeping across Saudi Arabia and the Arab and Muslim world.

    Around 1.5 million pilgrims from over 160 countries have
    arrived in the kingdom by air, sea and land by Friday. Saudi
    authorities expect two million pilgrims to take part in this
    year's pilgrimage.

    Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It must be
    performed once a lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who has
    the financial means. Muslims believe those who perform it with
    a sincere heart will be forgiven for previous sins.

    Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to its
    holiest shrines, the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's
    Mosque in Medina.

    The hajj, which culminates with Eid al-Adha (Feast of
    Sacrifice), will reach its climax on February 10 where prayers
    are said at Mount Arafat, the site of Prophet Mohammad's last
    sermon 14 centuries ago.

    The rituals include offering animal sacrifices and the
    meat is donated to the needy in Muslim countries.

    The pilgrimage season has not witnessed any major
    political protests since a bloody anti-U.S. rally by Iranian
    pilgrims in 1987 during which 400 people died in clashes, but
    political tension and prospects of a U.S. war on Iraq have
    increased fears for this years' hajj.

    jrc/

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