Millions of Pilgrims Converge on Mecca

Nearly 2 million pilgrims crowded the Grand Mosque and spilled over into nearby streets and malls Friday in this Muslim holy city to pray and listen to a sermon calling for unity.

The Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, was full to capacity with pilgrims from around the world on this last Friday, the weekly Muslim holy day, before rituals of the hajj--the annual pilgrimage required at least once in the lifetime of every Muslim financially and physically able to perform it.

“Is it not time for us Muslims to learn lessons in unity and solidarity from this great Islamic gathering?” Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Sudais asked of the crowd.

After Friday prayers, the pilgrims, many of them wearing surgical masks or covering their faces with prayer mats for protection from contagious diseases, circled the cubic black stone in the center of the mosque--the Kaaba--or sat reading from the Koran, Islam’s holy book, and reflecting.

The key hajj event is Sunday, when pilgrims start gathering on Mt. Arafat, 12 miles from Mecca. They will spend the night there in the first ritual of the hajj. Muslims believe that Islam’s Prophet Muhammad gave his last sermon 14 centuries ago on Mt. Arafat.

The other rituals of the hajj will be performed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Pilgrims will circle the Kaaba and throw stones at two pillars outside Mecca that symbolize the devil.

Saudi Arabia is expecting close to 2.5 million pilgrims this year. Last year, officials said 2.73 million people performed the hajj.

As part of an annual tradition, Saudi King Fahd is playing host to 2,500 pilgrims, 1,000 of them relatives of Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli forces and the others from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Also performing the hajj this year are Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir; Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf; and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Saudi authorities have set up more than 40,000 fireproof tents and plan to distribute 10 million water bottles free of charge.

The Saudi government does not announce the number of security forces it deploys in Mecca during the hajj, but it is believed to be in the tens of thousands.

Safety has been a key issue during the hajj because of the massive crowding.

In 1998, some 180 pilgrims died in a stampede while pilgrims were performing the “stoning the devil” ritual. A similar stampede in 1994 left 270 dead.

During the 1997 pilgrimage, fires driven by high winds tore through a sprawling, overcrowded tent city outside Mecca, trapping and killing more than 340 pilgrims and injuring 1,500.

Along with the fireproof tents, authorities have increased the numbers of rescue vehicles and provided safer cooking stoves.