Muslim pilgrims pray in Mecca before start of Hajj

By AP

More than a million Muslims are gathering for the hajj pilgrimage, which is taking place in the shadow of the Middle East war, as animosity smoulders across the region despite a fragile ceasefire.

Muslim worshippers performed night prayers in Mecca on Friday in the final days before the Hajj, one of biggest gatherings on the Islamic calendar.

Pilgrims were seen performing Tawaf, the ritual of walking seven times around the Holy Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction.

Once a year, large numbers of Muslim pilgrims converge in Saudi Arabia, uniting in religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj.

While fulfilling a religious obligation, they immerse themselves in what can be a spiritual experience of a lifetime and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness and the erasure of past sins.

This year, the Hajj has been approaching against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related tensions and uncertainty in the Middle East.

Earlier in the year, travel chaos from the war ensnared some of the Muslims who were in Saudi Arabia performing “Umrah,” often referred to as the lesser or minor pilgrimage. Some were stranded and scrambled to find their way home.

The Hajj occurs once a year during the lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar year. This year, the Hajj will officially start on Monday