In the midst of the oppressive summer heat and against the sombre backdrop of the Gaza conflict, over a million pilgrims gathered in Makkah on Friday to begin the annual Hajj journey.
Eight months into the Israel-Hamas conflict, throngs of robed worshippers are making their way to the tent city of Mina, where they will circle the Holy Kaaba, the black cubic edifice at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Many of them are expressing despair.
“Our brothers are dying, and we can see it with our own eyes,” Moroccan Zahra Benizahra, 75, sobbed as she spoke to AFP.
The majority Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, is home to Belinda Elham, who declared that she would “pray every day so that what’s happening in Palestine ends”.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia said on Monday that 1,000 pilgrims “from the families of martyrs and the wounded from the Gaza Strip” would be hosted during this year’s Hajj, increasing the total number of Palestinian pilgrims to receive this special distinction to 2,000, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
Tawfiq al-Rabiah, the minister of the Gulf monarchy in charge of religious pilgrimages, issued a warning last week stating that “no political activity” will be allowed, though it was unclear how pilgrims might show their support for the Palestinian cause.
“Regularly consume water During Hajj”
One of the biggest religious pilgrimages on earth, the Hajj, takes place over many days in Makkah and the adjacent areas of western Saudi Arabia.
One of the five pillars of Islam, it is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford to do so to fulfil at least once.
Following their journey from all corners of the world to the holiest city in Islam, the pilgrims will first make the seven-circle “tawaf” around the Holy Kaaba.
After that, they’ll travel a few miles outside of Makkah to Mina, a valley encircled by rugged mountains, where they’ll spend the night in air-conditioned tents.
The day-long prayers atop Mount Arafat, the location of the Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) last sermon, will take place on Saturday, marking the culmination of events.
The Holy Kaaba has already been surrounded by a significant number of white-clothed pilgrims for a few days.
Some have been waiting for the opportunity to go for years; Saudi officials only issue licences based on a country’s quota.
The 50-year-old Nonaartina Hajipaoli told AFP that she felt honoured to be one of the 1,000 pilgrims from Southeast Asia who arrived this year from Brunei. “I’m speechless, I can’t describe what I feel,” she stated.
Over 1.8 million pilgrims performed the Hajj last year, according to official statistics, after age limitations and restrictions from the epidemic era were removed.
According to state media, by late Monday, about 1.5 million people had arrived for this year’s Hajj.
This year, as in previous years, the event takes place amid the sweltering Saudi summer, when authorities anticipate average highs of 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Saudi health ministry’s Mohammed al-Abdulali told AFP this week that out of the over 10,000 recorded cases of heat-related diseases last year, 10% were heat stroke.
This year’s mitigation strategies include heat-reflective road coatings and misting systems.
Travellers were advised to “always carry an umbrella” and “drink water regularly, more than 2 litres daily” in a text message that warned of possible 48-degree temperatures. The message was issued on Thursday.
