Men clad in two seamless pieces of white cloth and women in modest dresses, covering their heads, were reciting 'Labbaik Allah Humma Labbaik', with tears flowing on their cheeks. Waquful Arafat, the major pillar of Haj will be on Friday when pilgrims will go to Arafat after Fajr prayers. Anyone, who enters the plains of Arafat before sunset on the Haj day, is regarded to have performed Haj.
About 155,000 Pakistanis are performing Haj this year. Mina, with as many as 50,000 fire-proof tents, was presenting a spectacle to watch on Thursday evening. By the Thursday Asr prayers, the city was presenting a completely different look, with men and women speaking different languages and dialects, but wearing identical clothes and chanting the same Arabic verses.
According to official sources, around 2.5 million pilgrims are performing Haj this year. With many domestic pilgrims, including expatriates living in the Kingdom, the number may go still up. Police made elaborate arrangements in regulating the vehicular traffic, however, several pilgrims chose walking towards Mina.
All roads to Mina were packed with buses and other vehicles on Thursday. Elaborate security arrangements have been made with about 60,000 security forces present in the area, several ambulances reportedly moved into Mina along with the pilgrims to take care of old, weak and ill pilgrims to tackle emergencies that might happen.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has made arrangements for sacrificial animals. Around 710,000 animals, mainly sheep, are likely to be sacrificed this year. The IDB has also made arrangements to airlift the sacrificial meat to various countries around the world to be distributed among poor Muslims. A large number of dignitaries from the Muslim world are in Mina to perform Haj.