Pilgrims continue to gather at the plain of Arafat to perform the greatest pillar of Hajj, their tongues engaged in glorification, exultation, and prayer despite the severe heat. The preacher of Nimra Mosque, during the Arafat sermon, called on Muslims to unite and avoid disputes.
Nearly two million pilgrims have arrived at Arafat near Mecca to perform the greatest pillar of Hajj, enthusiastically engaging in supplications. The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah reported that the number of pilgrims reached 1,845,000 from over 150 countries, including about 185,000 from within the kingdom. Unofficial estimates suggest that the number of pilgrims exceeds two and a half million. During the sermon delivered by Sheikh Yusuf bin Muhammad bin Said, a member of the Senior Scholars Authority, he emphasized, "The repeated texts affirm the importance of union, love, and harmony, and prohibit disputes, division, and differences."
After the sermon, the pilgrims performed the noon and afternoon prayers combined and shortened. Security forces coordinated the movements of the pilgrims to ensure organized passageways, according to the Saudi Press Agency "SPA." Comprehensive readiness from various governmental sectors providing services for the pilgrims included medical and emergency services, as well as supplies for the visitors who journeyed great distances to perform the fifth pillar of Islam.
The Saudi news agency observed the transition of crowds from Mina to Arafat, reporting smooth traffic flow during the pilgrimage. Today, the pilgrims will, by God's will, perform the noon and afternoon prayers combined at Nimra Mosque, with one call to prayer and two establishments.
The spokesperson for the National Center for Meteorology in Saudi Arabia stated on Twitter that "Arafat today recorded the highest temperature in the holy sites at 48 degrees Celsius in the shade, with hot winds from the north to northwest at 34 kilometers per hour and a low humidity of 14 percent." The Ministry of Health reported on Twitter 287 cases of heat exhaustion and sunstroke among the pilgrims, providing advice in multiple languages to help them avoid the harms of extreme heat and direct sunlight.
Pilgrims interviewed by Reuters praised the Saudi authorities' efforts to protect them from the extreme heat using cooling systems with mist sprays and providing umbrellas and cold water. As the sun sets on this day, the pilgrims will begin their journey to Muzdalifah, where they will pray the Maghrib and Isha prayers and stay until dawn on the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, following the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who stayed there and offered the Fajr prayer.