Pilgrims arrive in Mecca AFP January 12, 2005 http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,6119,2-10-1462_1646317,00.html Mecca - About 1.2 million foreign pilgrims and hundreds of thousands from Saudi Arabia expected to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage have started converging on the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
More than 1.07 million pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia, 972 000 of them by air for the hajj, which officially starts on January 19, Okaz newspaper reported on Wednesday. Another 17 000 arrived by sea, with more than 6 500 Sudanese and 1 000 Egyptian pilgrims crossing the Red Sea to the port of Jeddah, it said. The desert kingdom, home to two of Islam's holiest sites of Mecca and Medina, last year received 1.4 million foreign pilgrims, in addition to about 473 000 from within the country. Lucrative season The Islamic ritual is also a lucrative season for the western region of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which reportedly earned about 5.2 billion riyals ($1.38bn)from foreigners during last year's pilgrimage. The 1.4 million foreign pilgrims who flocked to Mecca spent 1.4 billion riyals ($373.3m)on accommodation, a survey showed. They also spent two billion ($533.3m) on air transport, of which 20% went to state carrier Saudi Airlines, and the remainder on other services and gifts. Figures on pilgrims are expected to keep rising, forcing the kingdom to increase its capacity to accommodate the largest annual Muslim gathering worldwide and where deadly stampedes do happen. Estimates expect hajj figures to grow to three million in five years and to between 3.5 and 3.7 million in 10 years. This would be in addition to more than 10 million performing the umrah (minor pilgrimage) every year by 2014. The foreign ministry announced last week that it had issued more than 2.6 million visas for the umrah during the current Islamic calendar year 1425, up 16% on the previous year. Last year's hajj saw 251 pilgrims trampled or suffocated to death during a stampede as they vied to stone three pillars representing the devil in Mina, near Mecca. The incident prompted King Fahd to announce a major renovation project, which envisages boosting the capacity at the stoning site from 160 000 pilgrims an hour to 500 000. Tragedies have occurred at the site in the past, with 14 people killed in 2002, 35 in 2001 and 118 in 1998 when more than 180 were also injured. The highest death toll was in July 1990, when 1 426 people were crushed or suffocated during a stampede in a tunnel in Mina. All Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam, at least once in their lifetime, if they have the means to do so. The hajj season ends on January 21, the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,6119,2-10-1462_1646317,00.html __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/hjtSRD/3MnJAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
