The courtyards, corridors and roofs of the Grand Mosque in Makkah were full to the brim from the early hours of Friday morning as two million pilgrims performed Friday prayers, and city streets reverberated afterwards with Takbir and Talbiyah chants as they exited the Haram. Some 500,000 pilgrims also performed Friday prayers at the Prophet's Mosque in Madina as they concluded their visit to the city ahead of moving on to Makkah. The pilgrims arrived early in the morning for prayer and to say the “Salaam” to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his two companions (may Allah be pleased with them) on bidding farewell to Madina. Most of the half a million pilgrims left Madina on buses of the General Cars Syndicate, in an atmosphere described as “spiritual” and characterized by “comfort and safety”. Ministry of Haj officials in Madina worked intensely with grouping centers to ease the traffic flow, which will continue and reach a peak over the Saturday and Sunday. “We are working hard at departure points and along the Madina to Makkah Highway, as well as on roads leading from Madina, to keep a close watch on the movement of pilgrims to Makkah and the holy sites,” said the Madina Director General of the Ministry of Haj, Muhammad Al-Bijawi. Iran, Bahrain Haj missions urge respect for Saudi laws The head of the Iranian and Bahraini Haj missions have called on pilgrims to respect the laws of the Kingdom, saying that exploiting the pilgrimage for political ends and using sectarian slogans have no place in Haj. “The practices and beliefs of some individuals, groups or different sects must comply with the instructions and laws of the Kingdom,” said Masoud Majradi, head of the Iranian Haj mission. Adnan Abdullah Al-Qattan, head of Bahrain's Haj mission, said that slogans or political goals or any other issues unrelated to matters of worship were “haram” – forbidden – according to Shariah. “Using the gathering of Muslims on these sacred lands to make political appeals is unIslamic,” he said.
