They have come in their hundreds of thousands, all devout, converging on one of the world’s holiest places.
This was the scene at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the birthplace of Islam, yesterday as Muslims around the world celebrated Ramadan.
The Grand Mosque houses the Kaaba, the most holy place in Islam, a square-shaped building that predates the religion itself. It is the Kaaba that Muslims around the world are facing when they pray towards Makkah.
A duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in his or her lifetime, the gruelling five-day haj ritual is one of the world’s biggest displays of mass religious devotion.
Pilgrims converge on the Grand Mosque and follow a route around the rocky mountains of the ancient city in line with a tradition established by the Prophet Mohammed.
The festival, which begins after the sighting of a new crescent moon, marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
During Ramadan, devout Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking from sunrise to sunset.
