RIYADH: "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik" (O God, here I am, answering your call) are being reverberated in the air of Arafat on Friday.

Sources said that more than two million Muslim pilgrims from around the world ascended Mount Arafat in western Saudi Arabia at the climax of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

They came here from Mina just after the Fajr prayers, sources added.

Pilgrims, according to the sources, clad in seamless white clothes, are spending the day in prayers and recitation of the Quran as it’s a must in the hajj.

However, Saudi Grand Mufti Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh read out khutba here.

Later, the pilgrims will then return to Mina Valley outside Macca after spending the night in the Muzdalifah area on the route between Mount Arafat and Mina.

In Mina, they will take part in the symbolic stoning of the devil at Jamrat al-Aqaba and sacrifice animals to mark the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which begins Saturday.

The Hajj ritual is the "fifth pillar" of the Islamic faith, one that must be performed by Muslims – if financially viable – at least once.

** Hajj begins Friday

BDST: 1538 HRS, OCT 03, 2014