Delivering the Haj Sermon from Masjid-e-Nimra on Saturday, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdul Aziz exhorted the faithful to introduce Islam as a dynamic religion to the world through their acts and deeds as more than two million Muslims gathered on Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain, marking the peak day of Haj. The pilgrims filled the mosque and the nearby streets and camps for collective prayer, led by the grand mufti. “Islam is the solution for the problems” of Muslims, he said in a speech, warning the faithful of “a media and cultural invasion that seeks to weaken (their) faith”. He urged Muslims to solve their problems “without interference from their enemies”, condemning those who want to “provoke hostility between you and your leaders”. Swarms of pilgrims who had spent the night in Mina, some 10 kilometres northwest of Arafat surged through the roads leading to the mountain after midnight. Many traveled on buses, while others set off on foot from Mina, a tent-village that comes to life only during the five-day pilgrimage. About 350, 000 took the Mashair Railway, also known as the Mecca Metro, to go to Mount Arafat and its surrounding plains, where Holy Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) delivered his final sermon. After sunset, pilgrims move to Muzdalifah, half way between Mount Arafat and Mina, to spend the night. On Sunday, they return to Mina after dawn prayers for the first stage of the symbolic “stoning of the devil” and to make the ritual sacrifice of an animal, usually a lamb with the beginning of Eidul Adha. On the remaining three days of the Haj, the pilgrims continue the ritual stoning before performing the circumambulation of the Kaaba shrine in Mecca and then heading home. However, the gathering in the plains around Mount Arafat symbolises the climax of the Haj.
Ghilaf-e-Kaaba replaced: Meanwhile, the ceremony of replacing the Ghilaf-e-Kaaba took place on Saturday and was attended by the management of Haram Sharif representing the King of Saudi Arabia and the representatives of the factory, which manufactured the cover. The old Ghilaf will be torn into pieces and will be gifted to the heads of different Islamic countries, per the tradition.
