As the sun set on Tuesday, pilgrims began their pilgrimage to Muzdalifah after spending the day at the level of Arafat and performing the greatest pillar of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims stay overnight in Muzdalifah before heading to Mina to throw the ember of Aqaba on the first day of Eid al-Adha.

After arriving in Muzdalifah, pilgrims pray Maghrib and Isha prayers together and shortly, and spend the night before heading in the morning to Mina to throw the ember of Aqaba, knowing that those with excuses can only spend part of the night in Muzdalifah.

When they arrive in Mina on Wednesday, the first day of Eid al-Adha, pilgrims will have to throw the ember of the Great Aqaba, then throat or shortening and slaughter the gift, which means the smaller decomposition of Ihram, and then head to Mecca to perform Tawaf al-Ifadah, a pillar of the Hajj, after which pilgrims decompose more and then seek between Safa and Marwa.

Fiancé number

The pilgrims had spent their day in Upper Arafat, and the pilgrims performed the noon and afternoon prayers in congregation and palace in the Nimra Mosque in Arafat, after they listened to a sermon delivered by a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Yusuf bin Muhammad bin Said, who said in his sermon that the texts (legal) continued to confirm the command to meet, love, harmony and forbid conflict, separation and disagreement.

"God forbade everything that causes division and difference"

– From the sermon on the day of Arafah 1444 AH #Authorize_people #Peace_safe#Mecca_and_Medina_await_await_you_longing_pic.twitter.com/i7bBJA3tDP

— Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (@HajMinistry) June 27, 2023

The preacher of the Namira mosque added that Sharia forbade being drawn behind campaigns that urge division of ranks, calling on Muslims to fear God Almighty by obeying Him, adhering to His law and preserving His limits.

Pilgrims spend the nights of al-Tashreeq in Mina (11, 12 and 13 Dhu al-Hijjah), and pilgrims are busy in those days throwing the minor, middle and then major embers, which are days of remembrance and thanks to God as mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, and then the Hajj rituals conclude with a farewell circumambulation, which they are keen to be the last thing they do in Mecca.

Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah said in a press conference on Tuesday inside the ministry's camp in Arafat that the plan to escalate pilgrims to Arafat has been crowned with success, indicating that the number of pilgrims in this year's Hajj amounted to one million and 845 thousand pilgrims, who came from more than 150 countries.

The Saudi General Authority for Statistics said on Tuesday that among this year's pilgrims, the number of domestic pilgrims reached 184,130 Saudi citizens and residents of the Kingdom.

Hajj Statistics

The authority explained that the number of pilgrims coming from Arab countries amounted to 21% of the total pilgrims, while the pilgrims of Asian countries except Arab countries reached 63.5% of the total number of pilgrims, while the number of pilgrims from African countries except Arab countries reached 13.4%, while the number of pilgrims from Europe, America, Australia and other countries reached 2.1%.


As for the ways of pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom, more than one million and 593 thousand arrived through air ports, while 60 thousand and 813 pilgrims arrived through land ports, while 6 thousand and 831 pilgrims arrived through sea ports.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that on behalf of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived on Tuesday in Mina to supervise the services and facilities provided to pilgrims to perform their rituals with ease and safety.

It is worth noting that this year's Hajj is the first after the lifting of all restrictions imposed to confront the Corona pandemic, which caused a drastic reduction in the number of pilgrims in the past few years.