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Pilgrims Gather On Mount Arafat During Haj Pilgrimage

More than two million Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat on Monday for a vigil to atone for their sins and ask God’s forgiveness as the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia reached its climax.

Pilgrims clad in white robes signifying a state of purity spent the night in an encampment around the hill where Islam holds that God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Ismail and Prophet Mohammad gave his last sermon.

Other worshippers praying in the nearby Mina area ascended in buses or on foot from before dawn as security forces directed traffic and helicopters and surveillance drones hovered overhead.

Some pilgrims carried umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun as temperatures surpassed 40 degrees Celsius after an evening of thunderstorms and high winds. Men and women from 165 countries, including Afghanistan, gathered side by side, while soldiers handed out bottled water and some people snapped selfies.

The pilgrims will spend the day on Mount Arafat. By sunset they will move to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa to gather pebbles to throw at stone columns symbolizing the devil at another location called Jamarat on Tuesday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.

A new kiswa, the cloth embroidered with verses from the Koran, was placed over the Kaaba in Mecca’s Grand Mosque late on Sunday. Pilgrims will return to pray there at the end of haj.

In a haj message, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of Iran, called for unity among Muslims as a defense against foreign enemies.

In Afghanistan meanwhile, Eid messages started coming in from around the world on Monday.

One of the first to issue his best wishes was US Ambassador to Kabul, John Bass and his wife Holly Holzer Bass who wished all Afghans a happy Eid in a video message.

The UK’s Ambassador to Kabul wishes all Afghans and Muslims around the world a happy and prosperous Eid-ul Adha.

 

Pilgrims Gather On Mount Arafat During Haj Pilgrimage

The pilgrims spent the day on Mount Arafat but will move to Jamarat on Tuesday, the first day of Eid al-Adha.

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More than two million Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat on Monday for a vigil to atone for their sins and ask God’s forgiveness as the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia reached its climax.

Pilgrims clad in white robes signifying a state of purity spent the night in an encampment around the hill where Islam holds that God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Ismail and Prophet Mohammad gave his last sermon.

Other worshippers praying in the nearby Mina area ascended in buses or on foot from before dawn as security forces directed traffic and helicopters and surveillance drones hovered overhead.

Some pilgrims carried umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun as temperatures surpassed 40 degrees Celsius after an evening of thunderstorms and high winds. Men and women from 165 countries, including Afghanistan, gathered side by side, while soldiers handed out bottled water and some people snapped selfies.

The pilgrims will spend the day on Mount Arafat. By sunset they will move to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa to gather pebbles to throw at stone columns symbolizing the devil at another location called Jamarat on Tuesday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.

A new kiswa, the cloth embroidered with verses from the Koran, was placed over the Kaaba in Mecca’s Grand Mosque late on Sunday. Pilgrims will return to pray there at the end of haj.

In a haj message, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of Iran, called for unity among Muslims as a defense against foreign enemies.

In Afghanistan meanwhile, Eid messages started coming in from around the world on Monday.

One of the first to issue his best wishes was US Ambassador to Kabul, John Bass and his wife Holly Holzer Bass who wished all Afghans a happy Eid in a video message.

The UK’s Ambassador to Kabul wishes all Afghans and Muslims around the world a happy and prosperous Eid-ul Adha.

 

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