Hajj pilgrims set for Eid-ul-Azha

Hajj pilgrims set for Eid-ul-Azha

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Throngs of Muslim pilgrims converged Monday on Muzdalifah to prepare for Eid-ul-Azha.

MUZDALIFAH (AFP) - Throngs of Muslim pilgrims converged Monday on Muzdalifah to prepare for Eid al-Adha feast after a day of prayer on Mount Arafat for an end to disputes and bloodshed.

The faithful will spend the night in Muzdalifah to collect stones which they will use a symbolic ritual of stoning the devil in nearby Mina on Tuesday, the first day of the feast of sacrifice.

Most of the pilgrims taking part in the annual Hajj to Islam s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia travelled from Arafat to Muzdalifah on foot, while others took buses and trains, some riding on the roofs.

Thousands of security men were deployed to organise the traffic flowing into Muzdalifah, which only comes to life during the five days of the Hajj.

Earlier in the day men, women and children from across the Muslim world flooded the roads to Arafat chanting "Labaik Allahum Labaik" (I am responding to your call, God), as they observed the peak of the Hajj.

Helicopters hovered overhead and thousands of Saudi troops stood guard.

Many pilgrims camped in small colourful tents or took shelter under trees to escape temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Special sprinklers were set up to ward off the heat.

In his annual sermon, top Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh urged Muslims to avoid divisions, chaos and sectarianism, without explicitly speaking of the turmoil unleashed by the Arab Spring.

"Your nation is a trust with you. You must safeguard its security, stability and resources," he said.

"You should know that you are targeted by your enemy... who wants to spread chaos among you... It s time to confront this."

The cleric insisted that Islam prohibits killing and aggression and said there is "no salvation or happiness for the Muslim nation without adhering to the teachings of the religion."

Prince Khaled al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca province who heads the central Hajj committee, said 1.38 million pilgrims had come from outside the kingdom while 117,000 permits were issued for locals.

This puts the total number of pilgrims at almost 1.5 million, less than half of last year s 3.2 million, after Riyadh slashed Hajj quotas.