JEDDAH — A total of 654,312 pilgrims have left the Kingdom for their respective homes until the end of Sunday, local daily Al-Madina reported on Monday quoting deputy director of the department of passports (Jawazat), Maj. Gen. Dhaifullah Bin Sattam Al-Huwaifi. Al-Huwaifi, who is also the commander of the Jawazat Haj forces, said 592,786 pilgrims have left by air through King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (KAIA) and Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah. He said 54,341 pilgrims have left by sea through the Kingdom seaports mainly the Jeddah Islamic Seaport while 7,185, the majority of whom were GCC citizens, left by land. Al-Huwaifi asked all the pilgrims to honor their departure schedules otherwise they would be questioned if they remained in the Kingdom after Muharram 15 (Oct. 17) which is the date fixed for the final departure of the pilgrims. Commander of the Jawazat Haj forces at KAIA, Brig. Nayyaf Bin Sultan Al-Ruwais said no cases of forgery were discovered in any of the pilgrims' travel documents. "We have smart electronic devices which can easily detect any cases of forgery either in the passports or the Haj visas," he said. Al-Ruwais said there are 142 passport counters and sufficient number of fingerprinting devices at the departure points to facilitate the pilgrims' travel procedures. "We have about 900 Jawazat staff working in shifts 24 hours a day to serve the departing pilgrims," he said. Meanwhile, the pilgrims who are still in Madinah to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and pray in his mosque, continued to visit the historical Islamic sites in the holy city. The pilgrims, who came to Madinah after performing the Haj, were keen to visit Qiba Mosque and pray two Rakaas there following the Prophet's Sunna. Qiba was the first mosque built on piety in Islam. They also visited the Al-Qiblateen Mosque and the Baqeea Cemetery where Hamza, the Prophet's uncle who is called the master of martyrs, and 70 other Prophet's Companions were buried. The pilgrims usually make it a point to visit the seven historical mosques while they are in Madinah.
