Riyadh: At dawn on Saturday, June 15, the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah, more than 1.5 million pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat to perform the greatest pillar of the Haj after spending the day at Mina in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
The Day of Arafat marks the second day of the Haj when believers make their way to the mountain where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have given his final sermon.
Chanting “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik (Here I am, O Allah, here I am)..,” pilgrims started ascending plains of Arafat.
Pilgrims marched to Arafat under comprehensive security arrangements coordinated by personnel from various sectors, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
At noon, pilgrims will make their way to the Namira Mosque to listen to the sermon of Arafat and perform the Zuhr and Asr prayers, both together and short, following the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.
Sheikh Maher Hamad Al-Mueaqly, the Imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque, will deliver the Arafat sermon, which will be broadcast in 50 languages this year.
With temperatures reaching up to 47 degrees Celsius in Arafat, Saudi authorities have urged all pilgrims to use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun and heat and to drink plenty of water.
The Arafat Day marks the climax of the annual pilgrimage of Haj, which began on Friday, June 14.
The standing at Arafat, one of the four pillars of Haj and the most important ritual of the annual pilgrimage, will start after the Arafat sermon.
After sunset, pilgrims will then head to Muzdalifah, and then return to Mina on the morning of Saturday, July 9 or tenth Dhul-Hijjah (the day of sacrifice, the first day of Eid Al Adha) to stone Jamrat al-Aqabah and sacrifice, then shave or shorten and their hair to Makkah to perform the tawaf al-ifaadah.
Pilgrims spend in Mina the three days of Tashreeq (11th, 12th and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah) to stone the three Jamarat, starting with the small, middle and then Jamarat Al-Aqaba (the Great).
