Pilgrims pray on Mount Arafat as hajj reaches peak

MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia – Huge numbers of Muslims prayed on Mount Arafat on Tuesday at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage, as a punishing desert sun sent temperatures soaring towards 40C. From daybreak, thousands of white-robed worshippers recited Quranic verses on the 70-metre (230 feet) rocky hill near Mecca, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his last sermon. Volunteers handed out bottles of water, parasols and food packages to the tens of thousands of pilgrims as they made their way toward Mount Arafat. “It is an indescribable feeling,” said Ahmoud Abou Elezz, a 35-year-old Egyptian engineer, […]...

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