Masses of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia circle the Kaaba ahead of the official beginning of the Hajj

SAMY MAGDY

13 June 2024 at 10:19 am·1-min read

Pilgrims leave after offering prayers outside at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 13, 2024. Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it. Some Muslims make the journey more than once. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A woman holds an umbrella to protect herself from the sun as she leaves after offering prayers outside at the Grand Mosque, during during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 13, 2024. Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it. Some Muslims make the journey more than once. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Saudi men embroiders Islamic calligraphy, using either pure silver threads or silver threads plated with gold, during the final stages in the preparation of a drape, or Kiswa, that covers the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure at the heart the Grand Mosque, at the Kiswa factory in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A Saudi man embroiders Islamic calligraphy, using either pure silver threads or silver threads plated with gold, during the final stages in the preparation of a drape, or Kiswa, that covers the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure at the heart the Grand Mosque, at the Kiswa factory in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Saudi Arabia Hajj

Pilgrims leave after offering prayers outside at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 13, 2024. Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it. Some Muslims make the journey more than once. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Masses of Muslim pilgrims in the Saudi city of Mecca on Thursday circled the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, a day before heading to the nearby desert area of Mina to officially open the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage that takes the faithful along a route taken by the Prophet Muhammad.

The area around the Grand Mosque in Mecca was overcrowded by midday, with the faithful going back and forth to the holy site to pray and make the circumambulation, or Tawaf in Arabic.

More than 1.5 million pilgrims had arrived in the country as of Tuesday, according to Saudi authorities. 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.

Since their arrival in Mecca, the pilgrims have performed the circumambulation. The large crowds circling the Kaaba will last into Friday, the Hajj’s first day, when pilgrims move to Mina, a desert plain outside the city.

They will then head to the Mountain of Arafat for a daylong worship. Afterwards, they will move to Muzdalifah, a rocky plain area a few miles away. There, pilgrims collect pebbles to be used back in Mina, in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil.

One of the world’s largest religious gatherings, the Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. All Muslims are required to undertake it at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.

Those in the Hajj view the pilgrimage as an opportunity to strengthen their faith, wipe out old sins and start anew.

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