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Over 20 lakh pilgrims perform Haj |
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March
16, 2000 Mount
Arafat, (Saudi Arabia), Mar 15: More than two million Muslim pilgrims,
hands raised to the sky and many in tears, prayed for forgiveness and
mercy on Mount Arafat today at the climax of t he annual pilgrimage, says
Reuters. Pilgrims
in seamless white clothes chanted: “Here I am, oh Allah, here I am,
associate no one with thee…” at the site on Saudi Arabia where Prophet
Mohammed (SM) delivered his final sermon 14 centuries ago. The
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that must be performed by every
able Muslim. Most pilgrims are often so moved by the spiritual experience
that they weep openly. “I
am tried but very happy,” Andrew Ingram, from Landover, Maryland in the
United States, told Reuter. “This is a great lesson in patience and
humility.” Men
and women of all races, social standing and ages, stood in the baking sun
holding umbrellas or sat under a tree or makeshift tents as temperatures
his 37 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). Saudi
authorities distributed more than 2.6 million bottles of drinking water as
sprinklers sprayed water on the pilgrims. When
calls rang out across the plateau for Eid prayers, most pilgrims faced
Makkah and joined in-group prayers. Others listened attentively to words
by preachers. Before
dawn row after row of pilgrims had made their way slowly to Mount Arafat
on foot and on buses. The trickle from the Mena Plains where the believers
spent the night in 43,000 fireproof and air-conditioned tents turned into
a flood of pilgrims in seamless white clothes after sunrise. The
tents were erected to avert a recurrence of the fire that killed more than
340 people in 1997. Some pilgrims slept on street corners and under
bridges. The
Emir of Makkah Prince Abdel Majeed told the official media told the
official media that the ascent of Mount Arafatr was completed just before
midday and that no security or health incidents were reported. “The
security and health situation among pilgrims is excellent and no incidents
have been reported,” he said. The
oil-rich kingdom has spent millions of dollars to ensure a safe Hajj.
Fires and stampedes have marred the pilgrimage in past year. The
pilgrims form 100 countries jostled for good spots on the top of Mount
Arafat. Jabal al-Rahman (Mountain of Mercy), a rocky hill on top of
Arafat, was quickly packed. Policemen
on foot, riding motorcycles and traveling by car were organizing traffic
and helicopters hovered overhead to report on any emergencies or possible
congestion. The
official media said more than 13 million international phone calls were
made form holy sites on “Tuesday as well as half a million calls form
cellular telephones. They
said the number of pilgrims coning form abroad this year reached an
all-time record 1,276,555. Of the more than two million pilgrims
performing Hajj every year half come form abroad and the rest from the
kingdom. Pilgrims
are due to leave Mount Arafat at sunset. They come down to Muzdalifah to
pick up pebbles. They then go to Jamraat in Mena where they start a
three-day ritual of stoning three pillars, imitating Abrahm’s stoning of
the devil that Muslims believe appeared three times to Abraham and Ismail. On
the first day of the stoning ritual, pilgrims and Muslims around the would
celebrate Eid at Adha and slaughter sheep, cows and camels as a symbol of
sacrifice. The
pilgrims then return to the holy city of Makkah to again circle the
cube-shaped Kaaba, which Muslims around the world face when praying – at
the Grand Mosque. Male
pilgrims have their haircut or shaven to mark the end of ihram, which
started at the beginning of the Hajjj when men put on a seamless two-piece
outfit and women, with their hair covered. Wear modest clothes. Source: The Bangladesh Observer |