Hajj diaries: spending the day in Mina, world’s largest tent city, with 1 million pilgrims

As the five days get underway, pilgrims have flocked to the tent city of Mina on Thursday to spend the day of Tarwiyah (water provision), following the Prophetic example in preparation to stand in the Arafat holy site on Friday.

Mina is about 6 to 7km away from Makkah.

The pilgrims will rest in Mina, engage in supplication and prepare for the day of Arafah on Friday, where Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) delivered his final sermon.

Arafah is a day of forgiveness. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, Hajj is Arafah.

The crowd has been capped at one million, with 850,000 from abroad, including 1,132 South African pilgrims that will be allowed to perform Hajj in 2022.

Saudi Arabia has provided security, medical and catering services and means of transportation for pilgrims to facilitate Hajj and perform their rituals with spirituality and tranquility.

The kingdom stressed that government and service agencies will implement everything to make their tasks successful during the Hajj season.

Cape Town pilgrim Mahmood Mowzer says the Hajj experience has been phenomenal so far with authorities doing all they can to serve pilgrims who have embarked on this journey.

ALSO READ: LISTEN: Naledi Pandor’s son talks about his first Hajj

“It’s an experience that is unexplainable. You can have all the money in the world, but the invitation is solely from Allah.”

He says the Saudi authorities have been very efficient.

“They’ve become better, trying their best and doing all they can to make this hajj a memorable one for the one million pilgrims.”

Mina is the largest tent city in the world, extending over 2.5 million square metres with a capacity of about 2.6 million pilgrims.

Mina’s City of Tents is one of the biggest projects executed by the Saudi government and serves pilgrims during the Hajj season to ensure their comfort and security.

This year’s Hajj is also the biggest since 2019 after two Covid-hit years when only tens of thousands were allowed to take part.

All the pilgrims are fully vaccinated and submitted negative PCR tests.

The hajj, usually one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings, is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives.