Hajj’s most vital Wuquf Arafat today

MAKKAH: The Hajj pilgrims will perform the most vital pillar of Hajj, i.e. Wuquf-e-Arafat (Stay at Mount Arafat) today (Monday). Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in the lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The world’s largest annual pilgrimage, the Hajj, began on Sunday more than 2 million Muslims pouring into the camp of Mina from Makkah to prepare for the rituals. The passage to Mina marks the official launch of the Hajj on the eighth day of the Muslim calendar month of Zulhajj. The day is known as Tarwiyah as pilgrims in the past stopped at Mina to water their animals and stock up for the following day’s trip to Mount Arafat. At Mount Arafat, around 10 kilometres southeast of Mina, the pilgrims spend the day in prayer and reflection. After sunset, they move on to Muzdalifah, halfway between Mount Arafat and Mina, where they spend the night. On Tuesday, the first day of Eid-ul-Azha, the pilgrims’ head back to Mina after the Fajr prayers. They then perform the first stage of the symbolic ‘stoning of the devil’ and make the ritual sacrifice of an animal, usually a lamb.