3 million at Arafat for Haj climax

ARAFAT: After spending the day at the spiritual highpoint of meditation and prayers in Arafat, millions of pilgrims moved after sunset to Muzdalifah to spend the night there before they proceed at daybreak to Mina and Jamrat. There they will perform the stoning and other rituals, including the animal sacrifice marking the Eid Al-Adha.
Yesterday, a sea of humanity made their trek from Mina to Arafat from dawn. Intonations of “at thy service, my God, at thy service,” reverberated through the valley as the pilgrims stood to pray for God’s forgiveness in the most spiritual moment of the entire pilgrimage. The standing at Arafat is considered the most pious act in Haj because Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told his companions 14 centuries ago while teaching the rites of the fifth pillar of Islam, “Al-Haj Arafat” (“Haj is Arafat”) signifying that it is the importance of standing at Arafat. So far no major problems were reported in the event in which mediapersons said about three million pilgrims participated. “The journey from Mina to Arafat was made in record time without major problems and the pilgrims could devote their worship in comfort and ease,” Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is also chairman of the Central Haj Committee and the Higher Committee for Supervision of Pilgrim Transportation, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency. A record number of pilgrims have traveled to the holy sites this year from abroad. read full stories..............

legal residents or Saudis who try to enter Makkah without Haj permits are not being arrested. They are stopped at the checkpoint and asked to return.

JEDDAH: Coming to Makkah is neither easy nor cheap. Taxi drivers and people driving their private cars are taking advantage of the Haj season to increase fares. These drivers demand high fare from those who do not have permits but want to perform Haj. At the bustling bus station in Jeddah downtown, where drivers converge to shuttle pilgrims to the holy city, a pilgrim with a Haj permit can expect to pay up to SR100 for travel to Makkah. For those intending to perform Haj without permit, these drivers ask for a hefty amount and may come down a little after negotiation. Taxi drivers also converge on Kilo 10 of the Old Makkah Road to pick up such pilgrims. Pilgrims who want to perform Haj but do not have permits or iqamas find people who smuggle them into Makkah. Such drivers are a few and they know the roads that lead to the holy city bypassing security checkpoints. The cost of smuggling these pilgrims starts from SR1,000 per person and can go considerably up. Fadlulrahman Abadi, a Sudanese pilgrim who works in the Kingdom, said he didn’t want to pay the SR2,500 fee that Haj tour operators were charging. “The high cost of Haj has forced many people, including me, to take the risk of getting smuggled into Makkah,” he said. “I’ve heard that it is more difficult this year (to sneak into Makkah) and that the police are vigilant and strictly applying the rules and regulations.
Abadi said given the high cost of performing Haj legally this year, he would again try to sneak into Makkah next year illegally. Nuruldeen Mahmoud, an Egyptian who wanted to perform Haj with his wife and two daughters, said he could not pay SR12,000 to obtain the permits to perform Haj. “I cannot manage this amount of money even if I save half my salary every month,” he said. read full story..............

8 pilgrims killed in accident

MADINAH: Eight Nigerian pilgrims died and 39 were injured on Friday night as the bus carrying them from Madinah to Makkah overturned on the Al-Hijra Highway. Fourteen pilgrims were rushed to Wadi Al-Far hospital and 24 were transferred to King Fahd Hospital in Madinah. The bus carrying the pilgrims overturned when the driver lost control. Both Civil Defense and Red Crescent teams arrived and were able to rescue many of them. Members of the National Haj Guides Organization visited King Fahd Hospital to make sure the pilgrims were receiving proper treatment. The team was headed by Yousuf read stories.................

Pilgrims assemble in Mina today

MAKKAH: More than 2.5 million pilgrims, including 1.7 million from abroad, will assemble in the tent city of Mina today at the start of this year's annual pilgrimage. Thousands of pilgrims left for Mina yesterday afternoon. The government has provided all facilities in Mina and other holy sites to receive the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have come from different parts of the world. About 100,000 security officers have been deployed to ensure their safety. More than two million faithful, mostly pilgrims, attended the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah yesterday. In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim, the imam of the mosque, said the Haj reflected the unity and equality among Muslims. “All Muslims must learn lessons from this great religious event. The Haj should encourage them to work in unison, to be compassionate to one another and strengthen their cooperation. There are no national or racial slogans or party flags. There is only one flag. The flag of Lailaha Illallah Muhammad Rasulullah (‘There is no god but God and Muhammad is his Prophet’),” the imam told the faithful. Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, director of Haj security at the Interior Ministry, said about 30 percent of pilgrims would leave tonight for Arafat for the standing ritual on Sunday on the Haj climax. A large number of security officers have been deployed in desert roads leading to Makkah in order to prevent illegal pilgrims who do not posses valid Haj permits from entering continue stories................

Foreign Ministry issues 1.75 million pilgrim visas

JEDDAH: Saudi missions abroad have issued more than 1.75 million visas for those who want to perform Haj this year, said Mohammed Al-Salloum, undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry for consular affairs. “Saudi embassies and consulates in different countries completed the issuance of Haj visas on Monday evening,” Al-Salloum told the Saudi Press Agency. As many as 1,582,217 pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom from different parts of the world. The majority of them — 1,445,135 — came by air, 116,532 by land and 20,550 by sea, according to Maj. Gen. Salim Al-Belaihed, director general of the Passport Department. More than 2.5 million, including read more........................

97 caught smuggling pilgrims to Makkah

MAKKAH: Authorities announced yesterday that 97 Saudis had been caught attempting to smuggle pilgrims who were not authorized to be in the Kingdom or did not carry Haj permits.
Passport Department spokesman Col. Abdullah Al-Orabi said these traffickers were caught at checkpoints leading into the holy cities. “The smugglers were trying to deliver overstayers with no legal status and Saudi citizens with no Haj permits to Makkah,” he said. The vehicles used to transport the pilgrims were confiscated and would be released only after the violators have paid the fine of SR10,000 apiece. The pilgrims continue................

Enough blood in banks for 5m pilgrims

RIYADH: The Ministry of Health has enough stock of blood in its banks to meet the needs of nearly five million pilgrims, Ibrahim Al-Omar, director general of the Blood Bank and Laboratories at the ministry told newsmen here yesterday.
Al-Omar said the ministry does not import blood from abroad. The blood bank gets its supply from local donors who include both Saudis and expatriates. He pointed out that more than 400,000 people donate blood in the Kingdom annually. To encourage the practice, those continue.................