Saudi Arabia officially announced the sighting of the crescent moon on Thursday evening, so that tomorrow, Friday, will be the first of Dhul-Hijjah, according to what the Saudi News Agency “SPA” reported.
Thus, Saturday, June 15, is the day for pilgrims to stop at Arafat, and Sunday, June 16, is the first day of Eid Al-Adha.
#urgent
Supreme Court: Tomorrow, Friday, is the beginning of the month of Dhul-Hijjah, and the stop at Arafat will be Saturday, 6/15/2024 AD.#SPA_General pic.twitter.com/Oc5cjS3siR– SPA Regions (@SPAregions) June 6, 2024
Saudi Arabia has completed its readiness to host pilgrims coming to the Kingdom through 14 air, land and sea ports, to perform Hajj rituals this year 1445.
The Saudi authorities expected temperatures to be “higher than normal” during the Hajj season, which begins in mid-June.
The Hajj season has been falling for years in the summer, and most of the rituals are held outdoors, in extremely hot desert conditions.
The CEO of the National Center of Meteorology in Saudi Arabia, Ayman bin Salem Ghulam, said in a press conference, “The expected climate for Hajj this year is witnessing an increase in average temperatures, reaching one and a half to two degrees above the normal rate in Mecca and Medina.”
The two cities include the holiest religious places for Muslims, the Kaaba in the heart of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, where Muslims face the direction of prayer in prayer, and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, where the Prophet Muhammad is buried.
Ghulam added that the climate conditions during the Hajj season this year will witness “average maximum temperatures of 44 degrees, relative humidity of 25%, and rain rates of nearly zero.”
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and every Muslim who is able to perform it must do it at least once.
From Mina to Upper Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his last sermon, pilgrims stay in air-conditioned tents while water misting devices are deployed and volunteers distribute thousands of bottles of cold water.
Last year, 1.8 million people performed the Hajj, according to official figures. The temperature reached 48 degrees Celsius on the day of Arafat, which made many pilgrims very tired.
Hajj is usually one of the largest annual religious gatherings in the world and constitutes a major source of income for the Kingdom. The revenues from rituals, Umrah, and other religious visits throughout the year are estimated at billions of dollars annually.
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