This year’s annual pilgrimage to Makkah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ended here on Tuesday with a call on Muslims to uphold the virtues of unity in diversity espoused by the teachings of Islam and actions of the Holy Prophet Mohammed.
Delivering a sermon at Arafat during Dzuhul and Asr prayers to climax the Hajj rites, the Imam Sheikh Yusif bin Mohammad, said Islam had been built on equality of man, emphasising that racism had no basis in Islam.
He urged Muslims to continue to demonstrate love, compassion for one another, saying “God has forbidden you spilling blood, looting of wealth and engaging in violent conflicts.
Earlier, the over two million pilgrims had converged on Mount Arafat, where the Holy Prophet delivered his last Sermon, to supplicate and ask for Allah’s forgiveness, with some shedding tears for the atonement of their sins.
Thereafter, they proceeded to Muzalifah to pick pebbles to stone the devil at Jamarat, a point in Mina, where the devil had tried to influence Prophet Abraham to ignore God’s command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
This year’s Hajj returned to full house and had been described as successful, after three years of restrictions in the numbers, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sharing his thoughts with the Ghanaian Times here in Makkah, Muzamil Abon, the Deputy Chairman of Ugandan Muslims Supreme Council said, he was privileged to be part of the sponsorship programme of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud.
“Our only regret is that, due to lack of communication, we could not get the opportunity to visit the tomb of our former Head of State, Iddi Amin who died in exile here,” he said.
Over last week, Makkah had been a beehive of religious activities with multitude of pilgrims in a sea of white garment, signifying the Islamic value of equality of humankind and modesty, converged on the Holy City to perform Hajj rituals, as required of a Muslim, once in a life time.
They circled the Kabba seven times and reenacted the ordeal of Hagar, wife of Prophet Abraham, in running seven times between Mount Safar and Marwa in search of water for her son Ishmael, till God provided the ever flowing Zamzam water.
The old, feeble and physical challenged were not left out in the performance of the sacred duties, as some abled-bodied individuals gave them comfortable rides in wheel chairs for a token.
To ensure safety of pilgrims, the Saudi authorities deployed thousands of security personnel to guide the pilgrims to safety, as helicopters hovered over the sacred sites to keep aerial surveillance over the pilgrims.
The streets of Makkah were filled with hundreds of buses transporting the pilgrims from their hotels to the sacred sites, while others made it on foot to avoid the traffic jam.
The authorities erected sprinklers to spray cool water to neutralise the scorching sun, while heavy air conditioners were also provided cool air in the tunnels.
The hospitality, charity and compassion of the people of Saudi Arabia were on full display as people stationed along the routes distributed packed food, water, pastries and umbrellas to the pilgrims.
Although the actual Hajj rites are over, some pilgrims continued to visit some historical sites in Madinah as they wind up their momentous journey to the sacred land.
FROM SALIFU ABDUL-RAHAMAN, MAKKAH SAUDI ARABIA
