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| Nearly 2 million Muslims all around the world gathered in Mecca for the annual five-day hajj pilgrimage. | |
| Nearly 2 million Muslims from across the globe have gathered in Islam's holy city of Mecca for the annual five-day hajj pilgrimage to pray for forgiveness during a spiritual once-in-a-lifetime journey. | |
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The hajj is an obligation that all able-bodied Muslims of sufficient financial means are required to undertake at least once in their lifetime. This year pilgrims will start their journey on Friday in order to avoid the chaos and stampedes that have occurred in the past, but Saturday is officially the first day of the hajj when pilgrims will make their way up Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have given his last sermon 14 centuries ago. This is also where Muslims believe God will grant them all their prayers. After waiting until dawn at Arafat the pilgrims will then head to Mina, a small village east of Mecca, where they will spend the day worshipping and collecting pebbles for a ritual practice of stoning the devil. Pilgrims will later travel to an open plain called Muzdalifa, between Mount Arafat and Mina, to throw pebbles at three pillars representing Satan. After Muzdalifa the pilgrims will perform their Tawaf al-Qudum by circling the sacred cube-shaped Kaaba seven times, reciting prayers along the way. The hajj will end on Wednesday after pilgrims return to throw stones at the devil in Muzdalifa on the last three days of the Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) holiday. Muslims believe the hajj is a time for pilgrims to seek forgiveness for their sins and meditate on their faith and an opportunity to start a new sinless life after the ritual. They aim to live the rest of their lives without committing any sins and by devoting themselves to maintaining their spiritual state. The head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, Professor Mehmet Görmez, made a statement on Thursday underscoring an improvement in the organization of this year's hajj. “In the past performing the hajj was just a dream for most people. In 1947 only 38 people [from Turkey] were able to perform the hajj due to the war and other conflicts going on in the country. Now the organization of the hajj has become so huge and successful that accommodation and other needs of 100,000 pilgrims are being met and 5,000 religious officers are accompanying them and providing information,” said Görmez, adding that almost 1 million people had applied perform the hajj this year. Görmez went on to note a difference in this year's applications, saying that the average age of hajj applicants was 57, whereas until this year it had never been less than 60. Saudi authorities have also introduced new measures to improve crowd management at this year's hajj. Authorities unveiled an elevated 22-mile (18 kilometer) light rail that will ease pilgrim transport between the holy sites around Mecca. This light rail project is part of a plan to turn the ancient city of Mecca into a modern metropolis and ease crowding during the annual pilgrimage. The area around Mecca's Grand Mosque has also been transformed by high-rise buildings that have been constructed to cater for a greater influx of visitors and meet an objective to increase the number of pilgrims that can be hosted from 10 million to around 50 million annually by 2020. |
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