MAKKAH: Chanting Talbiyah, over two million faithful clad in white Ihram will leave for the tent valley of Mina tonight for the hajj rituals beginning on Wednesday.
About three hundred thousand pilgrims will travel by trains and the remaining by buses.
The Hujjaj will offer Zohar, Asr, Maghrib and Isha prayers at Mina and move to Arafat soon after Fajr prayers on 9th Zilhaj where they will listen to Hajj sermon to be delivered from Nimra Masjid and offer Zohar and Asr prayers.
They will stay at Arafat till prayer call for Maghrib spending the day in prayers and repenting on their sins. After Azaan Maghrib, the Hujjaj will leave for Muzdalfa where they will offer Maghrib and Isha prayers and spend the night in the open sky.
The stay at Arafat on 9th of Zil Hijjah is the main ritual of Hajj.
Over one hundred and seventy nine thousand Pakistani pilgrims are performing hajj this year. Over two thousand people have been deployed by the ministry of religious affairs in Mina for the assistance of hujjaj. These include six hundred Moavneens and about fifteen hundred personnel of Pakistan Hajj Volunteer Group (PHVG).
