Muslim pilgrims from different parts of the world who came to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj have been converging on Muna since the early hours of Wednesday in preparation for Arafat day.
The pilgrims moved in their white robes for Muna, about five kilometres from Makkah.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigerian pilgrims from Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Nasarawa, Kogi and Kano led the movement from Makkah and got to Muna in the early hours of Wednesday.
The movement of Nigerian pilgrims was expected to be completed before sun set, about 4 p.m. Saudi Arabian local time.
The pilgrims would spend the day at Muna before proceeding to Arafat on Thursday, about 22 km East of Makkah and also spend the whole of Thursday on the plain of Mount Arafat, also known as mount of mercy, being the ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah, also known as Arafat day.
Staying at Arafah is one of the essential components of Hajj, hence, the religious journey will be invalid if a pilgrim fails to spend the required time at the plain.
The Saudi Arabian General Authority of Statistics (GAS) on Wednesday stated that 1,891,352 pilgrims entered Makkah up until midnight on Tuesday.
GAS also stated that the number of domestic pilgrims stood at 138,695, consisting of 81,284 Saudi men and women and 57,411 non-Saudis.
