{"id":41530,"date":"2013-10-11T16:41:53","date_gmt":"2013-10-11T12:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/?p=41530"},"modified":"2013-10-11T16:41:53","modified_gmt":"2013-10-11T12:41:53","slug":"more-than-two-million-worshippers-arrive-in-mecca-for-hajj-pilgrimage-with-another-million-expected-to-join-them-in-worlds-largest-annual-gathering-of-muslims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/en\/?p=41530","title":{"rendered":"More than two million worshippers arrive in Mecca for hajj pilgrimage… with another million expected to join them in world’s largest annual gathering of Muslims"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mecca<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the searing heat, this was the scene at the Grand Mosque in Mecca today as millions of pilgrims arrived for the annual hajj – a religious journey that is viewed as one of the Muslim faith’s greatest acts of worship.<\/p>\n

The mosque, the focal point of Islam, was teeming with visitors wearing the simple white folds of cloth prescribed for hajj.<\/p>\n

Almost two million people have so far arrived at the site in Saudi Arabia for the rites, which reach a peak on Monday – and another million are expected.<\/p>\n

And with temperatures hitting 36c (97f), many congregated in the cooler shadow of the building’s minarets.<\/p>\n

Haj must be performed at least once in their lifetime by all Muslims capable of making the expensive, difficult journey – a duty that applies equally to Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims at a time of tension between Islam’s main sects.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabian authorities have asked pilgrims to put politics aside during the annual hajj, but amid bitter divisions in Egypt, some Islamists refuse to keep quiet.<\/p>\n

Keenly aware of the potential for political tensions to flare into violence at a time of upheaval across the Middle East, the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef asked pilgrims to leave disputes at home.<\/p>\n

Most Egyptians making their way into the holy city said their most fervent prayers were for peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Mecca<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mecca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In the searing heat, this was the scene at the Grand Mosque in Mecca…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":41528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,224,137],"tags":[2577],"class_list":["post-41530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east","category-news","category-world","tag-mecca","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}