Muslims at haj gather on Mount Arafat to atone for sins

Muslim pilgrims praying on Mount Arafat in a vigil to atone for their sins and seek forgiveness as part of the annual haj pilgrimage.
Muslim pilgrims praying on Mount Arafat in a vigil to atone for their sins and seek forgiveness as part of the annual haj pilgrimage.PHOTO: AFP

ARAFAT, SAUDI ARABIA (REUTERS) - Two million Muslims gathered at Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat on Saturday (Aug 10) amid the summer heat and regional tensions for a vigil to atone for their sins and seek God's forgiveness as part of the annual haj pilgrimage.



Mr Zaid Abdullah, a 30-year-old Yemeni who works in a supermarket in Saudi Arabia, said he was praying for his own country, where war has killed tens of thousands of people and caused the world's worse humanitarian crisis, and for Muslims around the globe.

"We can tolerate the heat because our sins are greater than that," he said as he approached the granite hill also known as the Mount of Mercy. "We ask God to alleviate the heat of the hereafter. As for the heat of this life, we can bear it."

Taxi driver Khaled Maatouq said he was seeking an end to fighting in his native Libya: "I pray that God unites us."


"It's the greatest feeling, to feel that God the almighty chose us to be in this place," he said.

Saudi Arabia has said more than two million pilgrims, mostly from abroad, have arrived for the five-day ritual, a religious duty once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey.


The pilgrims will spend the day on Mount Arafat. By sunset they will move to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa to gather pebbles to throw at stone columns symbolising the devil at Jamarat on Sunday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.


Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, and organising the pilgrimage.



Tensions are particularly high this year between Saudi Arabia, ruled by Sunni Muslims, and Shi'ite Muslim Iran.

The seizure of commercial vessels and attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway separating the rival countries, have unsettled shipping lanes linking Middle Eastern oil producers to global markets.

The area has become the focus of a standoff between Teheran and Washington, which has beefed up its military presence in the Gulf since May.

Pilgrimage is also the backbone of a Saudi plan to expand tourism under a drive to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil. The haj and year-round umrah generate billions of dollars in revenue from worshippers' lodging, transport, fees and gifts.
