More than 2 million Muslims began the annual Hajj pilgrimage Sunday in Saudi Arabia, circling the cube-shaped Kaaba from first light in Makkah that faithful face five times each day during prayers. The five-day Hajj pilgrimage represents one of the world’s biggest gathering every year, a trip required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life. The Hajj offers pilgrims an opportunity to feel closer to God amid the Muslim world’s many challenges, including the threat of extremists in the Mideast after the Islamic State group was beaten back in Iraq and Syria and the plight of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority. “We are very blessed by Allah to be in this place, and we pray to Allah to make the Islamic nations from the West to the East in a better situation,” said Essam-Eddin Afifi, a pilgrim from Egypt. “We pray for the Islamic nations to overcome their enemies.” Muslims circle the Kaaba counter-clockwise seven times while reciting supplications to God, then walk between the two hills. Makkah’s Grand Mosque, the world’s largest, encompasses the Kaaba and the two hills. Before heading to Makkah, pilgrims visit the city of Medina. After prayers in Makkah, pilgrims will head to an area called Mount Arafat on Monday. From there, pilgrims will head to an area called Muzdalifa, picking up pebbles along the way for a symbolic stoning of the devil and a casting away of sins that takes place in the Mina valley for three days. At the Hajj’s end, male pilgrims will shave their hair and women will cut a lock of hair in a sign of renewal for completing the pilgrimage. Around the world, Muslims will mark the end of Hajj with a celebration called Eidul Azha. Major General Mansour al-Turki, the spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, told journalists Saturday that over two million Muslims from abroad and inside the kingdom would be taking part in this year’s Hajj. For Saudi Arabia, the Hajj is the biggest logistical challenge the kingdom faces. Its ruling Al Saud family stakes its legitimacy in part on its management of the holiest sites in Islam. King Salman’s official title is the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” at Makkah and Medina. Other Saudi kings, and the Ottoman rulers of the Hijaz region before them, all have adopted the honorary title The kingdom has spent billions of dollars of its vast oil revenues on security and safety measures, particularly in Mina, where some of the Hajj’s deadliest incidents have occurred. The worst in recorded history took place only three years ago. On September 24, 2015, a stampede and crush of pilgrims in Mina killed at least 2,426 people, according to an Associated Press count. The official Saudi toll of 769 people killed and 934 injured has not changed since only two days afterward. The kingdom has never addressed the discrepancy, nor has it released any results of an investigation authorities promised to conduct into the disaster. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia claims it is facing threats from militants and a local faction of the Islamic State group. Days earlier, the Interior Ministry acknowledged arresting a Saudi wearing an explosive vest in the kingdom’s central al-Qassim region who shot at security forces. Also, a Saudi-led war in Yemen drags on without an end in sight. According to media reports, Yemen’s Houthis have fired over 150 ballistic missiles on the kingdom during the conflict that has seen Saudi airstrikes hit markets and hospitals, killing civilians. Published in Daily Times, August 20th 2018.