Two million pilgrims converge on Makkah for Haj

Two million Muslims from across the globe are converging on Makkah in Saudi Arabia for the Haj pilgrimage, a religious duty and for some pilgrims the journey of a lifetime.

"I'm so excited because many people dream of coming to this place," said 47-year-old Eni from Indonesia, her face framed in a sand-coloured veil trimmed with lace.
"We feel more religious when we leave this place," she said.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, and it also provides the largest number of pilgrims for the Haj.

Eni's compatriots throng Jeddah airport 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Makkah, as tens of thousands of pilgrims pass through the gateway to the Haj every day.

But Eni is almost oblivious to the hubbub that surrounds her as she studies her Quran in the oppressive heat, pearls of sweat beading her face.

"After my first pilgrimage I felt I wanted to come back to feel myself close to him," she said of the Prophet Mohammed before returning her attention to Islam's holy book.

The Haj is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, which every Muslim is required to complete at least once in a lifetime if he or she has the means to do so.

"This year we expect around two million pilgrims," Abdelmajeed Mohammad Al-Afghani, director of Haj and umra (lesser pilgrimage) affairs, told AFP.

- 'Every time it's different' -

In the arrivals hall at Jeddah airport, determined pilgrims walk hastily to avoid losing contact with other members of their group.

"I'm so happy to be a part of it this year," said 43-year-old Nigerian Mohammed Said, in the seamless two-piece white garment or "ihram" worn by male pilgrims.

"I want to do it every year if I can afford it," added Said who is in Saudi Arabia for his third Haj.

"Every time it's different -- it's like I'm doing it for the first time."

For author Zeghidour, going on the Haj takes pilgrims to another level altogether.

"The pilgrim has to run, move, and perform several stages" of the ritual.

"It is so physically and mentally demanding that he doesn't have time to think about the crisis in the Gulf. For him this is literature.

"Many pilgrims come from Asia or Africa, far from the Middle East, and they come to a place where they can try to forget their lives back home."

Militant attacks across the world in recent years will be on the minds of many pilgrims, especially those from Iraq and Syria where Daesh has suffered a series of setbacks.

But the threat from extremists has not put off pilgrims such as Fatima, from Perpignan in southern France.

"I've been waiting to go on this journey for a long time," she said, wearing a red veil like the other people in her group.

Source: Khaleej Times