2.4 million pilgrims in final Hajj rituals as global Muslims celebrate Eid

Arab News
August 22, 2018

Makkah, Aug 22: More than two million Muslims took part in the symbolic stoning of the devil on Tuesday, the last major ritual of the Hajj pilgrimage that heralded the start of Eid Al-Adha.

Clad in white robes signifying a state of purity, men and women from 165 countries converged on Jamrat to perform the ritual from a three-story bridge.

Large fans sprayed water over the crowd as temperatures climbed to 44C.

Pilgrim Moueeneddine Ahmed, 35, from Bangladesh, complained of the scorching heat but said he was “very excited” to take part in the ceremony.

He also praised the Saudi authorities for maintaining order despite the vast crowd. “There’s a lot of security. Very disciplined,” he said.

In keeping with customs he said he would then “shave his head” and trade the white seamless robe he wore for the Hajj for his “normal clothes.”

Tens of thousands of security forces, including police and civil defense, have been deployed for Hajj, according to Saudi authorities.

Firas Al-Khashani, 33, a pilgrim from Jordan, was equally impressed. “The police assistance and the services were all extraordinary,” he said. 


“It is a beautiful feeling,” said Hazem Darweesh, 31, from Egypt. “The beauty of it is in the difficulty of performing it. It brings you closer to God.

Saudi authorities say 2.37 million pilgrims, most of them from abroad, have arrived this year for the five-day Hajj.

”
King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received well-wishers on Tuesday at the Royal Court in Mina Palace.


“Our country’s greatest honor is to serve God’s guests,” the king said. “On Eid Al-Adha, I ask God to complete the pilgrims’ Hajj and to perpetuate goodness and peace for our nation and all other countries.”


As pilgrims returned to Makkah to complete the final Hajj rituals, Muslims throughout the world began celebrating Eid Al-Adha — the “feast of sacrifice” commemorating the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son on God’s command.

Palestinians visited the Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem’s Old City after morning prayers.

The festival was also celebrated across Africa and Asia. Thousands prayed in a field in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in the Somali capital Mogadishu, and at Almaty central mosque in Kazakhstan.

Comments

Noor
 - 
Thursday, 23 Aug 2018

Hajj (literally means pilgrimage) is the fifth and final pillar of Islam and occurs in the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah, which is the twelfth and the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is the journey to Islam’s holiest place Mecca that every sane adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it and are physically fit.

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News Network
February 29,2020

New Delhi, Feb 29: The father of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma, whose body was pulled out of a drain in northeast Delhi's riot-hit Chand Bagh, complained to police that goons had assembled at the residence of former AAP counselor Tahir Hussain and were throwing petrol bombs from the rooftop.

According to the FIR which was registered on Thursday on the basis of the complaint lodged by Ankit's father Ravinder, the goons were also firing from the rooftop.

On Tuesday, Ankit returned from his office at 5 pm and then went outside to buy groceries. When he did not return, the family started looking for him and later filed a missing report, the FIR stated.

They got to know from their neighbours that a body has been recovered from a drain… later it was found to be that of Anikt, it said, adding the body had multiple stab injuries on the face, head, back, and chest.

The family has alleged in the FIR that it was Hussain and the goons at his residence who killed Ankit. In the FIR, Hussain has been accused of murder, destruction of evidence and abduction.

Soon after the FIR was registered on Thursday, the AAP suspended Tahir Hussain from the primary membership of the party till the police completed its probe.

The death toll in Delhi's communal violence rose to 42 on Friday as the situation showed some signs of returning to normalcy and clouds of smoke cleared to reveal the extent of the damage from the worst riots in the city in over three decades.

A total of 148 FIRs have been registered and 630 people have been either arrested or detained so far in connection with the communal violence, a Delhi Police spokesperson said.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

New Delhi, Jan 5: A masked mob on Sunday entered the Sabarmati Hostel on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus and assaulted several students and professors with sticks and rods.

"I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks. I am bleeding. I was brutally beaten up," JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh told reporters.

She has been admitted to the AIIMS here for treatment.

Several other students were also injured in the incident.

In a video of the incident, a group of goons with their faces covered can be seen assaulting students with wooden sticks and rods.

A tweet from the official handle of the JNUSU said, "Sabarmati Hostel: right now. They are beating the students who are inside. Knocking on doors with rods. People are jumping from balconies. #SOSJNU #EmergencyinJNU."

"Professors who were trying to protect us have been beaten up. These are unknown ABVP goons, not all are students, they have covered their faces, and they are moving towards the hotels near the West Gate. Stay alert. Make human chains. Protect each other. #SOSJNU #EmergencyinJNU," another tweet added.

Meanwhile, the ABVP's JNU unit claimed in a tweet: "Emergency in JNU. Leftist goons of JNU accompained with their cadre from other universities have crossed every limit. They have proceeded with unimaginable violence on ABVP activists of JNU."

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Agencies
July 18,2020

Days after Twitter accounts of several billionaires were hacked to engineer a crypto scam, Twitter on Saturday said it is embarrassed, disappointed and, more than anything, sorry for what happened with some of its high-profile users as attackers successfully manipulated its employees and used their credentials to access internal systems, including getting through the two-factor protections.

In the first detailed summary of the "social engineering attack" via a crypto scam that hit at least 130 users this week, Twitter said for 45 of those accounts, the attackers were able to initiate a password reset, login to the account and send Tweets.

"We are continuing our forensic review of all of the accounts to confirm all actions that may have been taken. In addition, we believe they may have attempted to sell some of the usernames," the micro-blogging platform said in a statement.

For up to eight of the Twitter accounts involved, the attackers took the additional step of downloading the account's information via "Your Twitter Data" tool.

This is a tool that is meant to provide an account owner with a summary of their Twitter account details and activity.

"We are reaching out directly to any account owner where we know this to be true. None of the eight were verified accounts," said Twitter.

The company said the attackers were not able to view previous account passwords, as those are not stored in plain text or available through the tools used in the attack.

"Attackers were able to view personal information including email addresses and phone numbers, which are displayed to some users of our internal support tools," informed Twitter.

In cases where an account was taken over by the attacker, they may have been able to view additional information, Twitter added, saying its forensic investigation of these activities was still ongoing.

"We are actively working on communicating directly with the account-holders that were impacted".

The company said it will soon restore access for all account owners who may still be locked out as a result of the remediation efforts.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the Twitter crypto scam can be traced back to a group of hackers who congregate online at OGusers.com, a username-swapping community where people buy and sell coveted online handles.

The report said that the Twitter hack is not from Russian, Chinese or North Korean hackers but was done by a group of young people, "one of whom says he lives at home with his mother".

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