At least 40% of the pilgrims to this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia will go to Arafat directly without going through Mina, it has been reported.
This is to avoid crowding, according to The Holy Mosques, a Twitter handle that gives updates on Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and Masjid an-Nabwi in Madinah.
However, thousands of pilgrims have already arrived on Monday in Mina, one of the largest tent cities in the world, located five km east of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque).
The pilgrims will be retracing the noble tradition of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), by spending the day and night on Monday, which is known as the Tarwiyah Day, in Mina.
On the first day of Haj rituals, they will engage in supplications and make final preparations for the Standing (wuqoof) at Arafat, the most important pillar of Haj, marking the climax of the annual pilgrimage, on Tuesday.
Dateline Nigeria reports that more than 2.5 million pilgrims are participating in this year’s Hajj, the largest since the Covid-19 pandemic. Nigeria has 95,000 pilgrims this year.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, only 10,000 pilgrims were allowed in 2020, and nearly 59,000 in 2021. In 2022, the number of pilgrims who performed Hajj stood at 926,000.
