MAKKAH: Millions of pilgrims, who have come from different parts of the world for this year’s Haj, attended Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
The Makkah imam reminded the faithful of the annual pilgrimage’s role in strengthening Muslim unity.
“We can see here people praying to God in different languages, who have come from different corners of the world. They try to know each other and understand the meaning of unity and solidarity,” Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim said at his Friday sermon. He urged the Muslim faithful to stand united under the banner of Islam, following the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
At the Prophet’s Mosque, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Qassim led the Friday prayer. “The Haj will cleanse the faithful of sins they committed in the past,” the imam said in the Friday sermon, quoting a Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). “Paradise is the reward for a blessed Haj,” he pointed out.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have been in Madinah since the beginning of the Haj season are arriving in Makkah now. “A bus departs for Makkah every five minutes,” said Muhammad Abdul Rahman Al-Bijawi, director of the Madinah branch of the Haj Ministry.
Almost 800,000 pilgrims have visited Madinah to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and pray at his mosque. They have also visited the historic sites, including the Quba Mosque, the Qiblatain Mosque and Al-Baqeea graveyard. Of these pilgrims, half arrived by land and the rest by plane.
Faisal bin Abdul Rahman Usra, director of the office for pilgrim bus guidance, said 28,656 buses carried 1.24 million pilgrims to Makkah as of Friday.
Meanwhile, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah arrived in Jeddah on Friday en route to Makkah to closely supervise this year’s Haj operation. Senior officials including Intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin and Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah accompanied him.
Nearly three million pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year, which begins on Nov. 25. According to a Haj official, there was a 13 percent increase in the number of pilgrims who have come from abroad this year compared to last year.
— Input from Yousuf Muhammad and Muhammad Humaidan
