MAKKAH — The Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques deployed all its energies and mobilized its cadres to ensure pilgrims perform Tawaf Al-Wada (farewell circumambulation of the Holy Kaaba). Thousands of pilgrims poured into the Grand Mosque coming from Mina before sunset on Saturday after throwing stones at the devil in Mina. The pilgrims have to perform Tawaf Al-Ifadah or Al-Wada — or the two together — before leaving for their respective homes or proceeding to Madinah to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) and pray in his mosque. The concerned security and traffic bodies have on their part deployed their human and material resources to ensure the pilgrims easy access to the Grand Mosque. A large number of pilgrims performed their farewell circumambulation on Saturday, especially an estimated half a million domestic pilgrims. Chairman of the presidency, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, said efforts have been orchestrated with other concerned departments including the Makkah Governorate to provide the pilgrims with all the services and facilities to enable them do their final ritual easily. He said the presidency is also closely working with the Haram special security forces to organize entry and exiting of the Grand Mosque and to prevent pilgrims from blocking the passages. Al-Sudais said the presidency has deployed more than 10,000 permanent and seasonal employees to provide services and facilities to the pilgrims inside the Haram. On his part, commander of the Haram special security forces Brig. Mohammed Al-Ahmadi, said they are determined to ensure safety and security of the pilgrims. Commander of the Civil Defense forces in the Grand Mosque Brig. Abdullah Al-Harthy said safety and rescue units have been positioned in various areas in the Haram and in the outside plazas to deal promptly with any emergency situation. He said there are clinics and medical cadres inside the Haram to provide first aid medical services to the pilgrims and transport critical cases to the nearby hospitals. Meanwhile,the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance has started distributing copies of the Holy Qur'an as a gift to the departing pilgrims. The ministry will distribute around two million copies of the Holy Book in 13 languages including, among others, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Urdu and Hawsa. The copies, printed at King Fahd Qur'an Printing Complex in Madinah, will be distributed among the departing pilgrims at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (KAIA), Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, Jeddah Islamic Port and various land outlets. The ministry's gift to the pilgrims also consists of four books on various Islamic topics. On the other hand, the Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is all set to operate more than 2,000 domestic and international Haj flights. About 66 flights were operated on Saturday to transport about 20,000 pilgrims to their respective homes. As many as 14 lounges at the Haj Terminal in the KAIA have geared up to process the travel documents for the departing pilgrims.
