Pilgrims begin the rituals of their journey … amid exceptional measures
By : Marwa Mahmoud
The pilgrims of the Sacred House of Allah,” began the rituals of their journey on Wednesday, to escalate to the Mina rite after all the payments were completed, in exceptional circumstances and under unprecedented precautions.
Pilgrims buses left the sanitary isolation in Mecca to start rituals, as they started on the first days of perfusion, after they were assembled at a gathering point with a capacity of 5000 square meters with the application of social divergence procedures.
They were also distributed to groups accompanied by a supervisor of Hajj and Umrah Ministry.
While the security work continues before the start of the rites with tightening of procedures, General Khaled Al-Harbi, Director of Public Security, stated that Kingdom has complete preparedness to manage any situation, and has no security obsession regarding weather fluctuations.
He stressed that the only danger that the authorities are working on this year is the threat of the pandemic and how it will ensure the safety of pilgrims to perform the ritual with ease.
It is assumed that the pilgrims saty at Mina on the day of al-Tarwiyah, which is the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, and it was called so because the people were watering in it and carrying what they needed.
On this day, pilgrims go to Mina, where people pray Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha for a short period without gathering and making an overnight stay in Mina.
Then the pilgrims return to Mina on the morning of the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah after standing on the level of Arafat, on the ninth of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, and then stay in Muzdalifah.
The pilgrims will also stop tomorrow, Thursday, at the level of Arafat, and comes within the ten virtuous days of Dhu al-Hijjah, where the pilgrims stand on this day in the level of Arafat, which near to Mountain of Mercy.
One of the actions of pilgrims on the day of “Arafa” is to stand with the presence of the pilgrim in any area of Arafat, whether he is standing, riding or lying down.
But if they do not stop within the specific area that includes all the boundaries of Arafat on this day, this would spoil his Hajj.
On the day of Arafah, the pilgrims come to the “Nimra” mosque to listen to the sermon of the mosque’s sermon, then they pray Zuhr and Asr with ears and two prayers, and then they start to pray until the sun sets.
Then the pilgrims return to the Haram al-Sharif for the circumambulation of the ritual pilgrimage, which is 7 runs, followed by the pursuit between Al-Safa and Marwah, followed by the sacrifice, then the cutting and shortening hair.
