Hajj pilgrimage starts November 14
SAUDI ARABIA: The annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca will begin on
November 14 after Saudi authorities Saturday set November 16 for the Eid
al-Adha holy day and festival, following the sighting of the crescent
moon.
After official astronomers confirmed the sighting, that decides the
start of the month of Dhul al-Hijja, the Supreme Court declared Sunday
to be the first day of that month, the official SPA news agency
reported.
The ruling means the annual Hajj will now start November 14.
More than 1.5 million Muslims from all over the world have already
converged on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia
for the hajj, the world’s largest annual gathering.
Officials estimate a total of about two million will take part this
year.
Eid al-Adha, which commemorates biblical patriarch Ibrahim’s (or
Abraham’s) acceptance of God’s command to sacrifice his son Ismail (or
Ishmael), always falls on the 10th of Dhul al-Hijja on the Islamic
calendar. As Ibrahim was allowed to sacrifice a ram instead, Muslim
families mark the day by ritually sacrificing sheep, goats, cows and
other livestock, the meat of which is also shared with the needy.
Riyadh, Tuesday, AFP |