The departures of Togolese pilgrims for the Holy Land (Mecca), ended on Saturday July 2, 2022, with the last wave of 366 faithful. On the spot, the guests of Allah will fulfill the fifth and ultimate pillar of Islam which constitutes a return to the sources of the faith. In the hope of experiencing the rites of Hajj, the vast majority of pilgrims congratulated the country’s authorities for having worked hard and made the trip easy.
It was 9:42 a.m. on Saturday morning when the Ethiopian Air Lines Airbus A350, with 366 pilgrims on board, took off from Gnassingbé Eyadéma International Airport, heading for Saudi Arabia. This flight thus consecrates the third and last wave of departures of pilgrims to Mecca who go there to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Ishmael and Muhammad, sent by Allah. To this end, the head of delegation, Imam Sani Karim, placed the full importance of this rite which is ” for Muslims a very important pillar, because it symbolizes the faith of Islam; it is to go to see the place which welcomed Adam and Eve, after being expelled from paradise, a place called Arafat, for the invocations “. For the facilities of this trip, “We take this opportunity, on behalf of the Hajj Commission and the Muslim Union of Togo (UMT), to thank the Head of State for all he has done to make the hajj of this year possible, because it is special all over the world. Indeed, because of Covid-19, many countries have had difficulties, but the Head of State has done everything to help Togolese pilgrims to be able to travel. “. Reason why, he asked them, once they arrived, to pray for him and all the Togolese people.
The rites of Hajj
During their stay in the Mother of Cities », Allah’s guests will perform a series of rites. It is about the sacralization (respect of prohibitions), the circumambulation in Mecca where the pilgrim goes in front of the Kaâba, goes around seven times in the opposite direction of the needles of a clock, the race. There is also a visit to the station of Arafat (Mount Arafat) located about twenty kilometers from Mecca where Adam and Eve were recognized, hence the name of the ” Mount of Recognition », the stoning of the three stelae of satan. This rite is performed in memory of Abraham’s “resistance” to satan who, three times, sought to make him disobey God, who had ordered him to sacrifice his only son Ismail. Pilgrims will also visit the tombs of ancient prophets and their companions and conclude with the sacrifice on the return journey..
Zeus POUH-PEKA