Pilgrims throng Mount Arafat for peak of hajj

Mount Arafat : Their palms facing the sky, around two million Muslims gathered yesterday on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the highlight of the hajj pilgrimage, one of the world’s largest annual gatherings.

With temperatures pushing 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) under the desert sun, the faithful climbed the hill east of Mecca where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon some 14 centuries ago.

They gathered in prayer on Jabal al-Rahma, or Mount of Mercy, for the second day of the hajj -- a five-day pilgrimage which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if physically and financially able.

At sunset, a sea of pilgrims clad in white made their way down the hill and headed to Muzdalifa to spend the night.

They will move on to Mina before sunrise for the hajj ritual of the symbolic “Stoning of the
Devil”.

Helicopters flew around the area as the pilgrims converged from dawn on the Mount Arafat plain and the hill known as Jabal al-Rahma, or Mount of Mercy.

Forming a sea of white, the pilgrims ascended the hill and took up positions to pray on rocks already heated by the morning sun.

On the concrete pathways linking the plain to the hill, hundreds of thousands invoked God, as others rested in makeshift tents or on sheets along the side of the road amid empty bottles and waste.

In a hospital opposite the mountain, an area was set aside for people suffering dehydration or heat exhaustion.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Crescent said it had deployed 326 ambulances along the pilgrimage route to handle health emergencies. 

“Some pilgrims, for example, forget to protect their heads with an umbrella when they pray,” said Bandar Al-Harthi, a nurse at a hospital facing Mount Arafat. 

Saudi Arabia says it has deployed more than 100,000 security personnel to keep pilgrims safe, where all eyes will be on the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, where the stoning ritual is held. It was the scene of the 2015 stampede that claimed the lives of nearly 2,300 pilgrims. 

At the foot of Mount Arafat, mobile barriers have been installed to control the movement of the crowds.