Haj climaxes today with standing in Arafat plain

They chanted “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik” (Here I am, O Allah, answering Your call) and spent the night in the solidly built white tents.

On Sunday, they will stand in prayer in the dry plains of Arafat, which is the climax of five-day Haj. This particular ritual is popularly known as Wuqoof-e-Arafat.

The weather conditions were particularly harsh, but the physically drained and spiritually charged pilgrims seemed undeterred. Most of them remained inside their tents or the massive Al-Khaif Mosque reciting verses from the Holy Qur’an.

Thanks to massive security arrangements, the 8 km trek by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Makkah to Mina was free of incident.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, who is chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, congratulated Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on the successful arrival in Saudi Arabia of 1.32 million pilgrims from 164 nations. The exact number of foreign pilgrims was put at 1,325,372.

The number of pilgrims coming from abroad is fewer than last year by 64,889 — a 5 percent decrease.

Read more at Arab News