By DPA
Riyadh : Over two million Muslims will begin Tuesday the ascension to the holy mount of Arafat, marking the peak of the annual haj pilgrimage.
Tens of thousands of believers have already started Monday streaming to the plain of Arafat, east of the holy Muslim city of Mecca, home to the Kaba – the holiest place in Islam.
Thousands more will be joining them to begin the journey up the mountain – the most strenuous rite in the five days of ceremonies.
Though Muslims can perform a pilgrimage at any time, special benefits are supposed to accrue if one visits during this particular time.
Haj is a primary obligation on Muslims to fulfil at least once in their lives but only if they are financially and physically able.
Owing to extensive air travel and a growing worldwide Muslim population this puts an extreme strain on both the host country of Saudi Arabia and on the pilgrims themselves.
Saudi Arabia vowed to maintain the safety of the worshippers, citing new procedures at a bridge where hundreds had died in stampedes in the past.
“We will make every effort to ensure the security and safety of the guests of God,” Interior Minister Prince Nayef told reporters last week.
He was speaking after a parade of some 50,000 security forces involved in protecting the haj.
As Mecca swells with pilgrims, people cannot but think about the collapse of the Jamarat bridge in Jan 2006 when 326 people died – the worst tragedy in the last 16 years in Mecca.
Prince Nayef said work was completed on the Jamarat bridge in Mina.
This is where pilgrims perform the ritual of throwing stones at pillars that mark the spot where the devil is believed to have attempted to prevent the prophet Ibrahim – the biblical patriarch Abraham also revered by Muslims – from obeying divine orders.
Long-standing resentments between Sunni and Shia Muslims had come to the fore in the past. Hundreds of people died, many of them Iranian pilgrims, during the 1987 pilgrimage in clashes with Saudi security forces.
Prince Nayyif said no extra security measures would be taken because of the presence of the Iranian leader.