Muslim pilgrims pray at Hajj
Friday, 27 November 2009
MOUNT ARAFAT, Nov 26 (AP): Muslim pilgrims holding white umbrellas against the blazing sun clambered up a rocky desert hill for prayers Thursday during the annual hajj, following a day of deadly torrential rains.
After Wednesday's sudden, unexpected downpours, the heat was scorching as the nearly 3 million pilgrims traveled to Mount Arafat, a desert plateau about 12 miles (20 kilometers) outside Mecca where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon.
Throughout the day, the faithful climbed up the Mountain of Mercy, a rocky hill at Arafat, and prayed for God's forgiveness of their sins in what Muslims consider the spiritual high point of the pilgrimage.
Flooding from Wednesday's downpour killed 48 people in western Saudi Arabia, Saudi officials said. None of the dead were hajj pilgrims, said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. The rains tapered off Thursday but meteorologists predicted further showers.
The four-day event, which opened Wednesday, is one of the most crowded in the world, with the masses of Muslims from every corner of the globe packed shoulder to shoulder in prayers and rites. Saudi Arabia's biggest worry for months ahead of the hajj has been swine flu. The Saudi government has been working with the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to set up clinics and take precautions to stem any outbreak.
After Wednesday's sudden, unexpected downpours, the heat was scorching as the nearly 3 million pilgrims traveled to Mount Arafat, a desert plateau about 12 miles (20 kilometers) outside Mecca where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon.
Throughout the day, the faithful climbed up the Mountain of Mercy, a rocky hill at Arafat, and prayed for God's forgiveness of their sins in what Muslims consider the spiritual high point of the pilgrimage.
Flooding from Wednesday's downpour killed 48 people in western Saudi Arabia, Saudi officials said. None of the dead were hajj pilgrims, said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. The rains tapered off Thursday but meteorologists predicted further showers.
The four-day event, which opened Wednesday, is one of the most crowded in the world, with the masses of Muslims from every corner of the globe packed shoulder to shoulder in prayers and rites. Saudi Arabia's biggest worry for months ahead of the hajj has been swine flu. The Saudi government has been working with the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to set up clinics and take precautions to stem any outbreak.