JEDDAH, 15 December 2007 — Sheikh Osama Khayyat, an imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, yesterday described the annual pilgrimage as a symbol of Islamic unity and solidarity and urged Muslims to strengthen their unity by upholding the teachings of Islam.
Delivering the Juma (Friday) sermon to nearly two million faithful including a large number of pilgrims, Khayyat decried sectarian violence.
“Don’t become infidels after my death, killing one another,” the imam said quoting a saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He said the protection of life, wealth and honor of Muslims was essential to achieve unity.
“Killing a person without any legitimate reason is prohibited in Islam,” the imam told the faithful, emphasizing Islam’s total rejection of terrorist acts.
Khayyat urged the pilgrims to make use of their blessed journey for achieving the objectives of Haj, such as establishing a close relationship with God, cleansing themselves of sins and bolstering unity.
Nearly 1.6 million pilgrims from different parts of the world have already arrived in the Kingdom for Haj, which begins on Monday. More than 2.5 million are expected to perform Haj this year.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah arrived in Jeddah yesterday to supervise the services being rendered to pilgrims.
Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, will inspect today the Haj facilities in the holy sites, including the newly established Jamrat Bridge project.
The large Haram Mosque complex overflowed with pilgrims yesterday, the last Friday before Haj. When the spaces in the inner courtyard filled up, the pilgrims chose spaces in the outer courtyard. Latecomers spread their mats on stairways of the shopping mall overlooking the mosque and later in the narrow alleys behind.
The Haj is often described as the world’s biggest religious gathering, and men and women from more than 100 countries take part.
Some of the largest contingents come from Indonesia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt. “See how people come from all over the world — Chinese, Pakistanis, Algerians, even Americans. It shows that we are all brothers,” said an Algerian who gave his name as Ibrahim.
Saudi state television said on Thursday the police were taking strict measures to keep out aspiring pilgrims from the Kingdom who do not have a Haj permit.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to perform Haj this year. Iranian media said on Wednesday that Ahmadinejad had received a formal invitation from King Abdullah.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ali Hassan Naqour, chairman of the land transport committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the new railway project linking Jeddah, Makkah and the holy sites would not affect bus companies.
He said the railway project, in the first phase, would be limited to foreign pilgrims coming by land as well as domestic pilgrims.
“Others who arrive by plane will be transported by bus,” he said.
Naqour said a fleet of 19,500 buses would be used this year to transport pilgrims. Of this 17,000 buses would be allocated for pilgrims coming from abroad and 2,500 for domestic pilgrims.
He said the Car Syndicate, the authority overseeing pilgrim transit, has readied 15,500 buses owned by 16 companies for the service, which is an increase of 1,000 buses over last year. The syndicate has rented 1,500 buses for domestic pilgrims.
Apart from that the domestic pilgrim service companies have rented 2,500 buses directly from foreign companies, especially from Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the UAE. He estimated the rents of these buses between SR35,000 and SR70,000.
Naqour said the proposed monorail system linking Makkah and the holy sites would enable authorities to stop renting buses once and for all. “This will also solve many other problems. Most foreign drivers do not know the routes in the holy sites and they often reach their destinations very late,” he pointed out.
Pilgrim bus companies have invested more than SR7 billion and have plans to beef up their fleets. Al-Jazirah Transport Company, which has a fleet of 2,000 buses, has bought 200 Mercedes buses for use during this Haj. Naqour, who is CEO of Al-Jazirah, disclosed the company’s plan to purchase 200 more Mercedes buses within the next two years.
