The Pilgrimage to Mecca

The pilgrimage to Mecca 500 km 50 km • Medina SAUDI ARABIA More than two million pilgrims are gathering in Mecca for the annual haj, with main rites starting on Wednesday Pilgrimage zone RIYADH Mecca Jeddah Mecca The Grand Mosque • Arafat Mina Covers 368,000 sq m and can hold more than 1.5 million people Pilgrims must: Circle the Kaaba counter- clockwise until they reach the centre and touch the sacred black stone Mataf, the procession gallery Walk seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah near the Grand Mosque and drink from the sacred spring Zem-Zem Each minaret is 90m high Kaaba > 15-metre high, draped in black silk and engraved with the sacred names of Allah > A sacred black stone is inlaid in one of the walls of the Kaaba The Grand Mosque: Pilgrims begin the haj (pilgrimage) by circling the Stop at Mina to pray and read the Koran Prayer from noon to dusk in the Arafat valley, where the prophet Mohammed preached his last sermon Kaaba seven times 2 Mina MECCA Tunnel Mount Arafat Muzdalifah Final return to Mecca. Pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven more times Pilgrims throw rocks at three pilars representing the devil. Start of Eid-al-Adha festival (three days of ritual sacrifice) Pilgrims pick up the 49 rocks needed for the stoning the following day in Mina Presented by www.umrah-alamanah.com