Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Joined by their faith and a desire to purify their souls, more than 2 million Muslims from nearly 200 countries gathered around a hill in Saudi Arabia on Monday marked by a small white pillar. It is here, in Mount Arafat on the Mountain of Mercy, known in Arabic as Jabal al-Rahma, that the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon to tens of thousands of followers, calling on Muslims to unite.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Joined by their faith and a desire to purify their souls, more than 2 million Muslims from nearly 200 countries gathered around a hill in Saudi Arabia on Monday marked by a small white pillar. It is here, in Mount Arafat on the Mountain of Mercy, known in Arabic as Jabal al-Rahma, that the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon to tens of thousands of followers, calling on Muslims to unite.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. The hajj, a central pillar of Islam and one that able-bodied Muslims must make once in their lives, is a four-day spiritual cleansing based on centuries of interpretation of the traditions of Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egyptian Muslim pilgrim Mansour Attallah Ali, cries as he prays at sunrise on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, as part of the hajj, or pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 14, 2014. The day spent on Mount Arafat is an emotional moment for pilgrims because it is here, on this rocky desert hill, where they believe that the gates of heaven are open for prayers to be answered and all past sins to be forgiven. Many can be heard repeating the phrase "Labayk Allahuma Labayk," or "Here I am, God, answering your call. Here I am."(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslim pilgrims prays at sunrise on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Countless Muslims have continued that same journey as part of an elaborate and physically demanding set of purification rites known as hajj. Muslims believe the rituals, which start in Mecca and culminate in Mount Arafat, also trace the footsteps of the prophets Abraham and Ishmael.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Muslim pilgrims touch a marker at the top of a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 14, 2014. The hajj, a central pillar of Islam and one that able-bodied Muslims must make once in their lives, is a four-day spiritual cleansing based on centuries of interpretation of the traditions of Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) — About 2 million Muslims from around the world prayed at a desert hill in Saudi Arabia on Monday, joined in their faith and desire to purify their souls at the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
It is here on Mount Arafat, marked by a white pillar, where Islam's Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon to tens of thousands of followers some 1,400 years ago, calling on Muslims to unite.
Prayers on and around the mount are a climactic emotional and spiritual moment in the hajj. The faithful believe that on this day the gates of heaven are open, prayers are answered and past sins are forgiven. Among the crowds of pilgrims Monday, men and women wept as they stretched their hands out in prayer and supplication.
"Labayk, Allahuma, labayk," they repeated — "Here I am, God, answering your call. Here I am."
The prayers at Arafat, outside the holy city of Mecca, are part of the elaborate and physically demanding purification rites of hajj. Hajj is a central pillar of Islam and all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform it once in their lives. While following a route Muhammad once walked, the rites are believed to ultimately trace the footsteps of the prophets Ibrahim and Ismail, or Abraham and Ishmael as they are named in the Bible.
For many pilgrims, the hajj is an answer to a lifetime of prayers — particularly for the poor, who often save for years for the chance to make the journey. The rites emphasize equality before God, whether rich or poor. Men dress in seamless white terrycloth garments symbolizing simplicity. Women wear long, loose clothing and a headscarf, forgoing perfume and makeup
Syrian pilgrim Mohammed Firas has come to hajj without his children. They were killed in Syria's civil war, he says, a conflict that has claimed more than 100,000 lives.
"I pray to God on this great day to swiftly lift our country's suffering," he said.
In his annual hajj sermon at a mosque near Mount Arafat, Saudi Arabia's mufti, Sheik Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Sheikh warned Muslims against divisions.
"The Muslim community is targeted by the enemies of Islam, who want to deal blows, sow divisions and spread chaos," he said, adding that Muslims must "protect their homelands."
Many of the pilgrims wore face masks, part of extra precautions this year because of a new respiratory virus centered in the Arabian Peninsula. The virus has killed more than 50 people in the kingdom this past year, prompting Saudi officials to slash visas for hajj by 20 percent in part due to concerns the presence of massive crowds in close quarters could cause a wider outbreak.
They say no cases of the coronavirus have been detected among pilgrims.
Around sunset, the pilgrims on hajj leave Mount Arafat and head eight kilometers (five miles) to Muzdalifa, a desert plain where they collect pebbles. Those pebbles will be used in a symbolic stoning of the devil that begins on Tuesday, marking the start of the three-day Eid al-Adha feast, celebrated around the Muslim world.
The following is a gallery of images from Mount Arafat by AP Photographer Amr Nabil.
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Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Abdullah al-Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed to this report.
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