MOUNT ARAFAT: A sea of pilgrims ascended Mount Arafat on Monday to pray and repent, the climax of Haj bringing together more than two million Muslims from around the world.

Carrying brightly coloured umbrellas under a blazing sun, worshippers scaled the rocky hill southeast of Makkah to atone for their sins.

Arms raised, pilgrims repeated “There is no God but Allah” and “Allahu Akbar”.

“The feeling is indescribable,” said Umm Ahmad, 61, who made the journey from Egypt.

Nearly 2.4 million pilgrims performed Haj this year, according to the Saudi statistics authority.

Some of the pilgrims — men in white seamless garments and women in loose dresses — pushed elderly relatives in wheelchairs on the second day of Haj, one of the world’s largest annual gatherings.

Jai Saleem, a 37-year-old Pakistani, said he cried when he and his wife arrived on Mount Arafat, where Holy Prophet (pbuh) delivered his final sermon.

“It feels great,” he said. “I have always seen this area, since my childhood, in photographs and on television.”

After sunset, pilgrims started making their way down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, where they will sleep under the stars to prepare for the final stage of Haj, a symbolic “stoning of the devil”.

Buses could be seen parked around the hill as workers hurriedly picked up empty water bottles near a yellow sign that read “Arafat starts here” in both English and Arabic.

“We know that it’s a difficult task,” said Amna Khan, a 35-year-old American Muslim pilgrim.

“That’s why we are all here. We’re doing this to get closer to Allah, to be absolved.”

A hot wind blew across the hill, also known as Jabal al Rahma, and the surrounding plain after a downpour late on Sunday. Many faithful could be seen sipping from bottles of water throughout the day.

“I knew it would be a little hard to climb Mount Arafat,” said Nigerian pilgrim Saidou Boureima.

“So I prepared for this challenge by working out. And God willing, we can see it through.”

Iranian contingent

Haj has at times seen tragedies. A crackdown on a protest by Iranians in 1987 caused the death of 402 people, including 175 Iranians. Iran boycotted Haj in 2016, following a deadly stampede the year before which left some 2,300 people dead, hundreds of them Iranian.

Tehran sent its pilgrims last year and this year it sent 86,000 pilgrims, according to Makkah governor Prince Khaled al Faisal.

Prince Khaled also said this year’s numbers include 300 pilgrims from Qatar, a neighbouring emirate hit by a major Saudi-led boycott. Qatar had said on Sunday that its citizens were unable to perform Haj because of the diplomatic dispute.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2018