Hajj pilgrims climb Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat

By Ali Abo Rezeg

ANKARA

Nearly two million Muslims from around the world have begun ascending the sacred Mount Arafat near Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca as part of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

After spending a night of meditation and introspection in the tent city of Mina -- the first leg of the five-day Hajj -- pilgrims set out for Mount Arafat on Monday morning.

It was on Mount Arafat that Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon.

Muslims are expected to spend the entire day on the Arafat plateau while praying continuously and asking Allah for forgiveness and mercy.

At sunset, they will descend the mountain and head back to Muzdalifah, the halfway point between Arafat and Mina.

Later, at Mina, they will take part in the symbolic “stoning of the devil” the ritual.

The ritual is a recreation of Prophet Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three places where the latter is said to have tried to dissuade Abraham from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son, Ismael.

After the stoning ritual on Tuesday, pilgrims will sacrifice animals to mark the beginning of the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday.

The Hajj pilgrimage is the "fifth pillar" of the Islamic faith -- a ritual that must be performed by all Muslims, if financially viable, at least once in their lives.

Over the last month, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have converged on Saudi Arabia from all over the world to perform this year’s pilgrimage.