The Pilgrimage to Mecca

Water was sprinkled over the pilgrims on the mountain. Amr Nabil / AP  

 

The Pilgrimage to Mecca 

Extreme heat as pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat 

 

During Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat outside Mecca to pray, writes AFP. The prayer on the mountain is the highlight of the Hajj pilgrimage, which every Muslim should complete at least once in his life.  

 

The mountain is considered sacred in Islam because the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have given his last sermon there. 

 

- I am very happy. I have longed for this moment all my life, says 67-year-old Fadia Abdallah from Egypt.  

 

This year's hajj took place during an extreme heat wave and on Tuesday it was close to 50 degrees at the mountain. According to local authorities, almost 300 cases of heat stroke have been confirmed. 

 

Thousands of pilgrims at the Kaaba in Mecca. Amr Nabil / AP  

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This year's pilgrimage to Mecca narrowly missed the record 

 

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca is estimated to have attracted roughly 1.8 million Muslims this year, writes AFP. Thus, the final figure is far from the forecasts of 2.5 million pilgrims, which had meant record attendance. 

 

 However, the figure is significantly higher than last year, when corona restrictions meant that a ceiling was set at one million people. This year's participation is also the highest since the requirement that women must be accompanied by a man on the pilgrimage was abolished in 2021. 

 

Around 870,000 of this year's pilgrims were women.

Årets vallfärd till Mecka missade rekordet med råge

Den årliga vallfärden till Mecka bedöms i år ha lockat drygt 1,8 miljoner muslimer, skriver AFP. Därmed är den slutgiltiga siffran långt ifrån prognoserna på 2,5 miljoner pilgrimer som hade inneburit deltagarrekord.

Siffran är emellertid betydligt högre än förra året då coronarestriktioner gjorde att ett tak lades vid en miljon personer. Årets deltagande är också det högsta sedan kravet på att kvinnor måste vallfärda i sällskap med en man slopades 2021.

Runt 870 000 av årets pilgrimer var kvinnor.