THOUSANDS of Muslims have been pictured descending on Mecca for a holy pilgrimage.
Around 1.5million pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the start of the Hajj on Friday.
GettyAround 1.5million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the Hajj[/caption]
AFPFirst of 1.5million worshippers were seen flocking to the holy site[/caption]
GettyPilgrims circled Kabba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca in an annual ritual[/caption]
AFPWorshippers hid from the scorching sun under umbrellas[/caption]
Dramatic images show huge crowds of believers from around the world flocking to the holy city.
The Islam‘s most important mosque, the Masjid al-Haram, can be seen packed with worshippers as they walked cheek by jowl on Wednesday.
Muslims, dressed in a simple, religious attire, are pictured hiding from the scorching sun under umbrellas as the temperatures reached 45 degree Celcius.
On Tuesday, a throng of pilgrims performed a ritual of walking counter-clockwise seven times around Islam’s holiest site, Kabba.
Abdel-Baset, a lawyer from Baghdad, said: “We congratulate the great crowd and thank God for gathering us from all regions, globally and not from the Arab world only, from all the global Muslim regions (who) came to the Grand Mosque.”
Saudi officials estimate that the number of worshippers will surpass last year’s 1.8million.
The annual pilgrimage is slowly returning to its pre-pandemic level when it drew almost 2.5million Muslims.
Saudi allows each country one pilgrim for every thousand Muslim citizens in order to control the flow of visitors.
Hundreds of thousands of locals along with more foreign pilgrims are expected to fill the Grand Mosque’s court on Friday when the Hajj officially begins.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, 4,200 Palestinians from the West Bank will also perform their religious duty.
Meanwhile, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip couldn’t make it to Mecca this year amid ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The pilgrimage also comes amid warnings that Pro-Palestinian protests will be crushed as Birmingham University gears up to take activists to court.
What is Hajj?
Hajj is a sacred Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Every able-bodied, adult Muslim who has the financial means is obliged to perform Hajj at least once in their lifetime.
The word “Hajj” means “to intend a journey”, which represents the physical distance Muslims travel, but also internal battles overcome.
Millions of Muslims make their journey to Mecca during the 12th month of the lunar calendar, which falls on June 14 to June 19 this year.
Muslims are given special clothes called Ihram to wear, which are simple, white garments that are supposed to make them appear equal – regardless of wealth or status – before Allah.
Once in Mecca, Muslims perform the Tawaf, which is when they move counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, a small shrine in the centre of the Grand Mosque.
The tradition dates back to the prophet Ibrahim – known as Abraham to Jews and Christians – who built Kaaba at Islam’s most sacred Mosque.
Pilgrims then walk or run between the mountains of Safa and Marwah seven times, which represents when Ibrahim’s wife Hagar did the same when searching for water.
On the second day of Hajj, Muslims head to Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, which is the location where Prophet Muhammad is said to have given his last sermon.
At the start of the Eid al-Adha feast, Muslims then take part in stoning ceremonies, where they toss pebbles at walls to represent the symbolic “stoning of the devil”.
Sheep are also slaughtered to give meat to the needy, and men and women trim their hair.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which also include fasting during Ramadan, praying five times a day, charity to the poor, and asserting that there is only one God.
The five pillars are fundamental practices that must be observed by all Muslims.
The University of Birmingham has requested a court order to end Gaza encampment on its territory after buildings were damaged and staff intimidated, the BBC reports.
Students at universities across the world have set up camps for several weeks in response to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
University of California cracked down on protesters, arresting about 25 people who tried to set up a tent camp on Monday, according to ABC.
Back in May, police and the activists clashed as they dismantled the tents and barricades and took dozens into custody.
It comes as the IDF has rescued four Israeli hostages, taken by Hamas on October 7 last year, in a raid at the Nuserat refugee camp in Gaza.
The mission, dubbed Operation Seeds of Summer, claimed lives of 274 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run health ministry.
The IDF has said that the hostages were being held in the homes of Gaza families in two different Hamas-controlled buildings.
Hamas has previously been accused of using civilians as human shields.
Israel estimated that less than 100 people died.
Israel also targeted a UN school which it claims was home to a Hamas base, allegedly killing terrorists involved in the October 7 attack.
Hamas-run media in the war-torn Strip said the overnight blitz killed at least 39 Palestinians seeking shelter in the school.
Local health officials said five children were also killed, Sky reports.
Director Ismail Al-Thawabta said the school was not hiding a Hamas command post.
He claimed the reports of a Hamas compound coming from Israel were used to “justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people”.
An Israeli warplane fired two missiles at the school on June 5, the BBC reports.
Israeli military estimates that between 20 and 30 Hamas militants were inside the school when it was struck, The Times of Israel reports.
Since the beginning of the war, over 35,000 people — mostly civilians— have been killed in Gaza, according to the UN.
GettyMuslims streaming into the Grand Mosque court to fulfil their religious duty[/caption]
GettyAble-bodied Muslims must perform the holy pilgrimage, Hajj, at least once in a lifetime[/caption]
APAImages / PolarisDisplaced Palestinian children gather around a makeshift cube representing the holy Kaaba, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital[/caption]