More than 1.5 million Muslim pilgrims have arrived in Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, and more worshipers will join, according to Saudi officials.
Hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia He will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday.
The Hajj, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, is one of the five pillars of Islam.
All Muslims must make the annual journey at least once in their lifetime if they have the physical and financial ability to do so.
Those who participate in the Hajj see the pilgrimage as an opportunity to strengthen their faith, erase old sins and begin new ones.
An aerial view shows Muslims coming from all over the world to the Holy Land continue their prayers to fulfill the Hajj pilgrimage as they circumambulate and pray at the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Muslim worshipers walk in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Muslim pilgrims can be seen arriving at the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday
Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed that of 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed the Hajj, slightly below the pre-pandemic level of 2.4 million in 2019.
Saudi authorities control the flow of pilgrims through quotas, allowing each country one pilgrim for every thousand Muslim citizens.
Among the pilgrims were 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Mecca earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs.
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were unable to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj this year due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Ibrahim al-Hadhari, an Algerian pilgrim, said: “We are praying for Palestine to be free and (for Palestinians) to liberate their land and be like other nations, to live in peace and not always have war.”
On Tuesday, pilgrims packed Mecca’s Grand Mosque, performing a ritual circuit by walking seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure inside the mosque that is considered the holiest site in Islam.
They wore ihrams, two sheets of unstitched white cloth that look like a shroud.
Many were seen sweating profusely from the scorching sun as temperatures reached 42C and 45C on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
“I was relieved when I arrived at Al-Masjid Al-Haram and saw the Kaaba,” said Rabeia al-Raghi, a Moroccan woman who came to Mecca to perform the Hajj along with her husband and daughter. ‘I’m very happy.’
Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building of the Great Mosque in Mecca.
The Kaaba is photographed here as night falls over the Saudi city of Mecca.
Muslim pilgrims arrive to offer prayers at the Grand Mosque
Muslims around the world worship, recite the Holy Quran and circumambulate the Kaaba on Friday, June 7.
Muslim pilgrims visit al-Noor Mountain (Jabal al-Nour) where the Hira Cave is located and where the Prophet Muhammad received the first revelation, making it one of the most visited holy places by Muslims.
Prospective pilgrims are seen as they take part in acts of worship to fulfill the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.
A general view of a street in Mecca as the sun sets over the city, as temperatures reached 42°C and 45°C on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
Muslim pilgrims wait to clear immigration after arriving for the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, at Jeddah International Airport.
A view of Mecca as Muslim pilgrims visit al-Noor mountain
Muslims from all over the world visit Jabal ar-Rahmah (Mount of Mercy), located about 20 kilometers southwest of Mecca.
Muslims from all over the world worship and circumambulate the Kaaba to fulfill the Hajj pilgrimage
Pilgrim buses line up to transport worshipers to the center of Mecca after their arrival in the city.
Abdel-Baset, an Iraqi pilgrim from Baghdad who works as a lawyer, added: “We congratulate the large crowd and thank God for bringing us together from all regions, globally and not just the Arab world, from all the Muslim regions of the world ( that ) arrived at the Great Mosque’.
On Tuesday night, the vast marble courtyard around the Kaaba was packed with worshipers, walking almost shoulder to shoulder and often bumping into barricades set up by security forces to direct crowds in and around the Great Mosque.
Pilgrims take part in the walk, known as ‘Tawaf’ in Arabic, upon arriving in Mecca, as large crowds continue to surround the Kaaba until the first day of the Hajj.
On Friday, pilgrims will move to Mount Arafat for a daylong vigil and then to Muzdalifah, a rocky plain a few kilometers away.
In Muzdalifa, pilgrims collect stones to be used in the symbolic stoning of the pillars representing the devil in Mina.
A man holds a slaughtered animal for sale at a local livestock market ahead of the Muslim festival Eid Al-Adha, celebrated each year to mark the Hajj.
A vendor rests at a slaughtered animal market ahead of Eid Al-Adha, in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Wednesday.
Traders display their cows and goats for sale at the Sibreh animal market ahead of Eid al-Adha in Sibreh, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
A general view of a cattle market before Eid al-Adha in Bangalore, India