Over 1.6m pilgrims make final preparations for hajj
By Hina Kiyani

ISLAMABAD—Hundreds of thousands of Muslims from around the world gathered in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, making final preparations for the annual hajj pilgrimage.
Saudi officials say that more than 1.6 million Muslims fromabroad have assembled for the hajj, which begins on Monday, the eighth day of the month of Zil-hajja under the Islamic calendar, aprivate tv news channel reported.
Hundreds of thousands of Saudi faithfuls as well as foreigners living in the desert kingdom are also expected to take part.
All Muslims are required to make the hajj to Mecca, in the western region of the kingdom, at least once in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.
Among this year’s pilgrims will be Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom Saudi King Abdullah has invited and will become the first President of the Islamic republic of Iran to take part in the event.
He will join other pilgrims in carrying out a series of sacred rituals, which includes walking counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure in Mecca toward which Muslims pray.
Muslims believe the Kaaba is the first building on earth andthat it was originally constructed by Hazrat Adam (AS). According to them, it was rebuilt by the Prophet Hazrat Abraham (AS) and hisson Hazrat Ishmael (AS) some 5,000 years ago.
The Kaaba houses the Black Stone, which Muslims believe wassent from heaven by the angel Gabriel to Hazrat Ishmael (AS). The stone was revered even in pre-Islamic times by pagans.
Nearly 2.4 million people flocked to Saudi Arabia to perform the last hajj, including more than 1.6 million from outside the kingdom, which is the birthplace of Islam.
Saudi Arabia has announced that the high point of the hajj, when pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat near Mecca, will take placethis year on Tuesday.
The following day will be Eid-Ul-Azha, the Feast of the Sacrifice when Muslims slaughter lambs to mark the end of the pilgrimage.
Around two million animals are slaughtered during each hajj, a practice which commemorates Hazrat Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ishmael to God.
Pilgrims can buy coupons in return for which a lamb will beslaughtered on their behalf and its meat given to the needy.
A total of 11,000 doctors, nurses and paramedics will be onhand to provide medical care during the hajj, with 4,200 beds at 21 hospitals and 145 health centres in the holy sites of Mecca, Minaand Arafat, Saudi media reported.
According to the official SPA news agency, 85 ambulances havealso been mobilised and health alerts will be issued in case of any outbreak of disease.
The precautions and security measures are in place to try toprevent a repeat of the high death tolls that have often characterised past pilgrimages. In 2006, 364 people were killed ina stampede at the entrance of the Jamarat Bridge, where Muslims cast stones at a pillar representing Satan.