Mount Arafat, Saudi Arabia – This year’s annual hajj pilgrimage has drawn more than 1.8 million worshippers, Saudi Arabia’s statistics authority said Tuesday, a long way short of a record despite predictions of peak attendance.
The data showed most of the faithful came from abroad.
The kingdom’s officials had predicted this year’s rituals, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, would draw more than 2.5 million pilgrims, making it the largest to date.
But official figures carried by the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV showed they were still short of the 2.5 million worshippers who took part in 2019.
“The total number of pilgrims for this hajj season… is 1,845,045 male and female pilgrims,” the Saudi statistics authority said, according to Al Ekhbariya.
They include more than 184,000 from within the kingdom, according to the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
More than 875,000 women took part, compared to almost 970,000 men, the ministry said.
This year’s figures still mark a dramatic increase on the 926,000 from last year, when numbers were capped at one million following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only 10,000 were allowed in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, rising to nearly 59,000 a year later.
The hajj is among the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives.
This year’s hajj is the largest since Saudi authorities scrapped a requirement for women to be accompanied by a male guardian in 2021.
Pilgrims crowd Mount Arafat
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims crowded the rocky rise known as Mount Arafat to pray at the height of an annual hajj pilgrimage held in the fierce Saudi Arabian summer.
As temperatures soared to 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit), groups of white-clad worshippers recited Koranic verses on the hill, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.
Some took selfies under the clear burning sky before flocking down Mount Arafat after sunset, heading to nearby Muzdalifah where they will spend the night praying.
“I’m very happy. It’s a moment I have been waiting for my entire life,” said Fadia Abdallah, 67, from Egypt, wearing a white abaya and sitting on the ground beneath an umbrella.
The ritual at Arafat is the high point of the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, that Saudi authorities said could be the biggest on record.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived Tuesday in Mina, where pilgrims slept in a city of white tents that spread out across the plain. From the air, it looked as if the land were dusted with snow.
Prince Mohammed arrived to assess the well-being of worshippers and the quality of services provided there, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The visit came as temperatures soared to their highest levels since the hajj started on Sunday.
The health ministry has recorded at least 287 cases of heat stroke and exhaustion since the start of hajj, state media said Tuesday.
Syrian amputees –
High temperatures have been a constant challenge for the pilgrims, who come from around the world, and Tuesday was the hajj’s most physically demanding day.
Helicopters hovered low overhead, monitoring crowds at the event which has a tragic history of deadly stampedes and fires.
Tree-shaped water towers sprayed cooling showers on the visitors, who received free water bottles and snacks handed out from large trucks.
Six field hospitals with more than 300 beds have been arranged in Arafat, Yasser Bair, a Saudi defense ministry official, told the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV.
“I can’t believe I’m God’s guest,” said Rahma, a 57-year-old Libyan housewife who asked to be identified only by her first name, fighting back tears as she spoke.
The hajj is a life goal for many Muslims, who are expected to perform the pilgrimage at least once if they are financially and physically capable.
Among the pilgrims are amputees from Syria, who rested, with their artificial limbs beside them, at a tent near Mount Arafat.
The pilgrimage is also a big revenue-earner for Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter which is trying to diversify its economy, including with tourism.
Stoning the devil –
On Wednesday, they will gather pebbles and hurl them at three concrete walls in the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ritual.
Then they will return to Mecca’s Grand Mosque — Islam’s holiest site — for a final circumambulation of the Kaaba, the giant black cube that Muslims worldwide pray towards each day.
Heat is not the only risk at the pilgrimage, which has seen multiple crises over the years, including militant attacks and deadly fires.
In 2015, a stampede killed up to 2,300 people. There have been no major incidents since.
American engineer Ahmed Ahmadine, 37, said he felt “blessed” to be able to take part.
“I try to focus on praying for my family and friends,” he said.
“This is an opportunity that will not be repeated.”