MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims have poured into Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale.
Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims from around the world arrived in the country on Tuesday, the vast majority by plane. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday.
Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed the hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage.
The pilgrims included 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Mecca earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could not travel to Saudi Arabia for the hajj this year due to the eight-month war between Israel and Hamas.
On Tuesday, pilgrims thronged the Grand Mosque in Mecca, performing a ritual circumambulation that involves walking seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure within the mosque that is considered Islam’s holiest site. They wore ihrams, two unstitched sheets of white cloth that resemble a shroud.
Many were seen holding umbrellas against the sun, with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) during the day on Tuesday.
“I was relieved when I arrived at Al-Masjid Al-Haram and saw the Kaaba,” said Rabeia al-Raghi, a Moroccan woman who came to Mecca for the Hajj with her husband and their daughter. “I am very happy.”
At night, the vast marble courtyard surrounding the Kaaba was packed with worshipers, walking almost shoulder to shoulder and often jostled by barricades erected by security forces to direct the massive flows of people into and around the Grand Mosque.
Pilgrims perform the circumambulation, known as “Tawaf” in Arabic, upon arrival in Mecca. The large crowds around the Kaaba will continue until the first day of Hajj.
On Friday, pilgrims will head to Mount Arafat for a daytime vigil, then to Muzdalifah, a rocky area a few kilometers away. In Muzdalifa, pilgrims collect pebbles to use in symbolically stoning pillars representing the devil in Mina.
The Hajj, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, is one of the five pillars of Islam. All Muslims are obliged to undertake this at least once in their lives, if they are physically and financially able to do so.
Those who attend the Hajj view the pilgrimage as an opportunity to strengthen their faith, erase old sins and make a fresh start.
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