Makkah | The valley of Mina, also known as the City of Tents, prepared to receive the well-dressed pilgrims who came to Makkah from the eight directions with chants of ‘Labbaikallahumma Labbaik, Labbaika la Sharikalaka Labbaik, innal hamda vanniimta laka wal mulk la sharikalak’. Within a 20 square kilometer valley surrounded by mountains as far as the eye can see, pilgrims spend days and nights during the Hajj in neatly arranged rows of tents.
Pilgrims arriving in Makkah will arrive at Mina on Thursday, Yawmutarwiya (eighth of Dhul Hajj), the day of maturing the body and mind of the believer before the Arafat gathering. Day and night will be spent in Mina. A whole night can be spent in recitation and worship of the Holy Qur’an, following the example of the late Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Hajis participating in this year’s Hajj are staying in Mina Towers, tents and ‘hospitality tents’ developed by Kedana Company. The tents developed by the Kedana company have been provided with facilities of 2.5 square meters for the pilgrims. Maximum occupancy is six people. An average area of 1.6 square meters is allotted to the pilgrim in the hospitality tents. The tent can accommodate a maximum of 10 people. Minanagari has the capacity to accommodate thirty lakh pilgrims. It is also the largest tented city in the world.
This is one of the biggest projects implemented by the Saudi government to ensure the comfort and safety of pilgrims during the Hajj season. The tents are spread over 2.5 million square meters and can accommodate 26 lakh pilgrims.
To the east of the Haram Mosque in Mecca lies Mina, the city of thumps. Mina Valley is also a holy land that has witnessed many historical events in Islamic history. Mina city known as Tent City is located five kilometers from Makkah on the way to Arafa. Mina has the world’s longest footpath, starting from Jabal al-Rahma in Arafat and passing through Muzdalifah.
Gabriel (a) brought a goat from heaven and Ibrahim (a) slaughtered the goat. Dua here has a special effect as it is a holy land where great prophets wrote sacrifices. After completing the Luhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha and Subhi prayers at Mina, and the Subhi prayer on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, the pilgrims will proceed to attend the Arafat gathering.
As a result of the global spread of Covid-19, Hajj was restricted to those residing within the country for the past two years. Ten lakh people, including eight and a half lakh pilgrims from foreign countries and one and a half lakh foreigners from Saudi Arabia, are participating in the Hajj this year.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs announced that furnishing, cleaning, sanitization, maintenance of air-conditioning system, toilets, lighting, counters for Islamic education and commissioning of maintenance companies for cleaning have been completed and the Al-Qaif Mosque, which was closed due to the covid epidemic, will receive pilgrims after two years.
This year’s Hajj is hot. The temperature in Makkah ranges from 39 to 42 degrees Celsius. The security forces have completely taken over the control of the areas where the Hajj ceremonies take place. Hajj and Umrah Deputy Minister Dr. Abdul Fattah Mashat said.