Sunday, November 7, 2010

Saudi sets start of hajj pilgrimage for November 15

Officials estimate a total of about two million will take part in this year's hajj
RIYADH (Agencies)
The annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca will begin on November 15 after Saudi authorities on Saturday set November 16 for the Eid al-Adha holy day and festival, following the sighting of the crescent moon.
The kingdom's official SPA news agency says the court confirmed the sighting of the new moon Saturday. According to the lunar calendar, hajj begins nine days into the 12th month of the year - making the start Nov. 15 this year in the Gregorian calendar.
The ruling means the annual hajj will now start on November 15.
More than 1.5 million Muslims from all over the world have already converged on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia for the hajj, the world's largest annual gathering.
Officials estimate a total of about two million will take part in this year's hajj.
Eid al-Adha, which commemorates biblical patriarch Ibrahim's (or Abraham's) acceptance of God's command to sacrifice his son Ismail (or Ishmael), always falls on the 10th of Dhul al-Hijja on the Islamic calendar.
As Ibrahim was allowed to sacrifice a ram instead, Muslim families mark the day by ritually sacrificing sheep, goats, cows and other livestock, the meat of which is also shared with the needy.

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