Over 100,000 air-conditioned tents blanket the 250-hectare Mina valley, which is located approximately 5 kilometers east of Makkah’s Grand Mosque and can house up to 2.6 million people.
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Due to a custom wherein individuals bring water to the location in advance of the Day of Arafat, when pilgrims ascend Mount Arafat, Friday, the eighth day of Dhul Al Hijjah, when they first arrive in Mina, is known as Yawm Al Tarwiyah, or the day of irrigation.
During the day, pilgrims will kiss the black stone and go around the Kaaba seven times for the greeting tawaf, also known as the circumambulation of the Kaaba.
They will travel to the Safa and Marwah hills near the Kaaba in the afternoon, where they will either run or walk between the hills seven times in order to represent the prophet Ismaeel’s mother Hajjar’s run for water for her son.
After that, pilgrims will spend all of Friday till morning in Mina getting ready for the most significant day of the Hajj journey: the Day of Arafat.
More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims are expected in Saudi Arabia, where the majority arrived by plane as of Tuesday, according to officials.
Hajj is a sacred pilgrimage and is one of the fifth pillars of Islam. Each year, millions of Muslims worldwide travel to and perform Hajj in Makkah, modern-day Saudi Arabia.