Eid Mubarak from The SUSTG Review, SUSTG Weekend and The 966 | SUSTG.com – News, Analysis, and Features on all things Saudi Arabia

The Saudi-US Trade Group which produces the SUSTG Review, SUSTG Weekend and The 966 podcast wishes peace, happiness and health to all on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha 2024 (1445 AH)

This year, based on lunar sighting, Hajj will start on June 14, with Eid al-Adha celebrated on June 16.

In the Islamic calendar, Hajj occurs in Mecca from the eighth to the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar.

Muslim pilgrims have been arriving to Mecca over recent weeks with more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims arrived by Tuesday this week.

According to an Associated Press report, Saudi officials, “expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed those in 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed Hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage.”

Samy Magdy, writing for AP adds,

“Pilgrims do the circumambulation, known as “Tawaf” in Arabic, upon arriving in Mecca. The large crowds circling the Kaaba will last into the Hajj’s first day.

On Friday, pilgrims will move to Mina, before heading the following day to the Mountain of Arafat for a daylong vigil. They will then head to Muzdalifah, a rocky plain area a few miles away. In Muzdalifa, pilgrims collect pebbles to be used in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil back in Mina.

One of the world’s largest religious gatherings, the Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims are required to undertake it at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.

Those in the Hajj view the pilgrimage as an opportunity to strengthen their faith, wipe out old sins and start new.”

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