Pilgrimage Draws 1.5 Million Muslims to Mecca

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Up to 1.5 million white-robed Muslims prayed, chanted and listened to sermons on Mt. Arafat in 108-degree heat Saturday during the climax of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

In their midst were an estimated 20,000 Saudi security men. This year’s rites have been marked by an absence of the political problems that have marred the pilgrimage, known as the hajj, since Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979. Last year, more than 400 people--mostly Iranians--were killed in rioting in Mecca.

Although Tehran reported two violent demonstrations Wednesday and Friday, Saudi authorities denied that any demonstrations have occurred. Pilgrims contacted by telephone said there were no signs of trouble at the holy sites this year.

On Saturday, the pilgrims ascended to Nimra Mosque on Mt. Arafat after trekking from Mecca, nine miles away.

Smiling men and women draped in seamless white pieces of cloth brandished copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, during the ceremony inside the mosque.

The ceremony was broadcast live on Saudi television and via satellite.

The pilgrimage season officially began July 15 with the sighting of the crescent moon, marking the start of the Muslim holy month of Eid al Adha.

The wukuf, or standing at Mt. Arafat, represents the culmination of the annual hajj, which all of the world’s 850 million Muslims are expected to make at least once.

The culmination includes the stoning of the devil, in commemoration of the Prophet Abraham’s refusal to be tempted into disobeying God’s order that he sacrifice his son Ismael, as related in the Koran.

Today, after slaughtering sheep to represent the sacrifice of a sheep instead of Abraham’s son, the pilgrims begin a four-day feast.