ARAFAT (Saudi Arabia) - A HUMAN tide washed over Mount Arafat on Sunday morning as hundreds of thousands of devoted Muslims gathered for the key moment of the annual haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

So far no major problems have developed, organisers said, although a record number of people have come from outside Saudi Arabia for the event and media say the total number of participants may reach three million.

For the second day of the haj, which lasts four days or more, the male pilgrims wore two pieces of unstitched cloth, serving as a shroud, while the women were entirely covered apart from face and hands.

Closely monitored by security forces, the crowd chanted the phrases: 'Here I am in answer to Thy call, Lord, here I am. There is no other God but Thee. Praise be unto Thee.' 'This is a day of great joy,' one man said before breaking down in tears on his arrival at Arafat, overwhelmed with happiness on taking part in the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam which the Koran says Muslims must carry out at least once in their lives if they are well enough and can afford it.

Just as emotional, Suad Dasuqi, a 50 year-old Egyptian woman, called for 'the victory of Islam and a tightening of the ranks of Muslims,' praising the hajj for uniting the faithful of different races and colours, and from all continents.

As the vast crowd edged along, sometimes delayed by the awkward movement of hundreds of buses carrying pilgrims, the faithful were offered meals and drinks, handed out free by volunteers.

A highlight comes in the middle of the day when pilgrims join in collective prayers at the Namera mosque, built on the site where Mohammed prayed while making the pilgrimage.

They spend the rest of their time on Mount Arafat praying and beseeching God for his forgiveness, as a symbol of the wait for judgement day.

At sunset the faithful start to move towards the valley of Muzdalifah, a few kilometres away, to spend the night.

On Monday, participants return to Mina, where the pilgrimage began on Saturday with a day of prayer and contemplation.

Once back in Mina, they sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep, to recall Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son on God's order. This ritual marks the start of the Eid al-Adha feast.

They then spend another two days in Mina for the stoning of Satan, the last and most dangerous rite, which has left many people dead in previous years after stampedes broke out.

The authorities have built bridges at three different levels on the site in a bid to avoid the trampling that caused the death of 364 people in 2006, 251 in 2004 and 1,426 in 1990.

So far this year 'no incident has been recorded,' according to Prince Khaled al-Faisal bin Abdel Aziz, the governor of Mecca.

The Saudi interior ministry has assembled 100,000 stewards to ensure safety during the hajj and the health ministry has supplied 11,000 of its medical and paramedical staff along with 140 first aid points and 24 field hospitals containing a total of 4,000 beds.

The ministry said on Saturday that 1,728,841 pilgrims from abroad, the highest ever number, had entered the kingdom. They joined the hundreds of thousands of Saudi citizens and other residents participating this year.

Stringent checks
The flow of traffic was notably smoother than last year, as more pilgrims were transported on buses and authorities imposed stringent checks on entry points to the Mecca area to keep out people without haj permits hoping to join the rites.

The government says it will stop Saudis and foreign residents from taking part without official permits, a main cause of overcrowding. Over 1.75 million haj visas have been granted to Muslims abroad, and at least 500,000 locals receive authorisation.

'The objective of this work is to account for all pilgrims, whether they are Saudis or non-Saudis,' said organiser Ahmed al-Sulaimi as security forces stopped cars at a checkpoint.

The government warned pilgrims not to politicise the haj.

'Saudi Arabia is above any party or political intentions behind the haj. Pilgrims should not raise any slogans other than that of Islam,' Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh bin Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh said in comments published in Saudi newspapers.

There have been clashes between police and Iranian pilgrims in the past over political slogans. Sectarian tensions have arisen recently in the Arab world after Shi'ite Muslims came to power in Iraq, emboldening Iran and its Shi'ite allies.

Disputes between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah delayed and prevented some Palestinian pilgrims from arriving, adding another potential flashpoint.

Speaking in Mecca, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas. 'Unfortunately, this is the first time in the history of the Palestinian people that pilgrims were prevented.

Israel never once prevented pilgrims,' he told reporters.

The Saudi government is also wary of militancy. Despite an Al-Qaeda campaign to destabilise Saudi Arabia from 2003 to 2006, The haj has never been targeted by Al-Qaeda militants.

Islamist militants rampaged through the Indian financial capital of Mumbai last week, killing 171 people. -- REUTERS, AFP