HOLY SITES: Heavy rain, with hail and lightning, hit the holy sites Thursday, with pilgrims scrambling for cover and struggling to perform their rituals. In Makkah, pilgrims performing Tawaf – circumambulation of the Holy Ka'ba – had their umbrellas, jackets and caps out. The scene was the same in Mina, as pilgrims continued to stream to and from Al-Jamarat to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil. Drenched pilgrims took shelter under whatever structure they could find. The top, exposed level of the multi-story bridge that gives access to the stoning walls was empty, and knee-deep water ran through parts of the ground level. A thin stream of pilgrims kept coming to perform the rite, some with umbrellas, some with plastic bags over their heads. Pilgrims had performed Haj in perfect weather until Tuesday. The rain started Wednesday evening, with strong winds of about 56 kilometers an hour. There were reports of short electricity blackouts in places. Mild to heavy rainfall was also reported elsewhere in the Kingdom, particularly in Taif. Last year, Makkah was hit by heavy rain. Jeddah, however, felt the brunt of the heavy weather with storm and floods at the end of November that left many dead and homeless and billions of riyals in damage. Hussain Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment, said that the rain is expected to continue until Friday but, he said, the situation was under control. The Civil Defense has warned pilgrims to be careful. For most, the rain did not dampen the powerful emotion of the religious experience. “This makes me a strong Muslim, God is very big and I'm very small. I was like a child asking for help from his mother and father,” said Seifallah Khan, a 38-year-old from Karachi, Pakistan, as he performed the rites. An Egyptian from the Nile Delta, 60-year-old Sayed Mutwalli, said that now that he was retired, he could finally fulfill his dream of performing Haj. But, he added, “age has its limits. There are a lot of difficulties but God gives you strength”. Farag Khalil, an Egyptian butcher in his 50s, said it was the third time he was performing the pilgrimage. “I hope from God that for as long as I live I manage to make it to Haj,” he said. “Prayers in Makkah are like a 100,000 times (the value) of prayer at any other mosque.” He arrived in the country two weeks before Haj began and planned to stay an extra week to visit nearby sites, including the Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Madina. “Why should I be in a hurry to leave? I wish I could die here,” he said. “Every time I come I regret the time of my life I spent outside of Makkah.”
