Breathtaking Photos of One of the World’s Biggest Religious Pilgrimages

Every year, millions of Muslims from all over the world gather.

ByABC News
September 23, 2015, 11:46 AM
Muslim pilgrims are seen on the Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahmah, Mount of Mercy, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2015, ahead of the climax of hajj.
Muslim pilgrims are seen on the Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahmah, Mount of Mercy, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2015, ahead of the climax of hajj.
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— -- Every year, millions of Muslims from all over the world gather in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, for Hajj, the annual pilgrimage that is one of Islam’s five pillars.

PHOTO: Muslim pilgrims join one of the Hajj rituals on Mount Arafat near Mecca, Sept. 23, 2015.
Muslim pilgrims join one of the Hajj rituals on Mount Arafat near Mecca, Sept. 23, 2015.

This year, three million people are expected to take part in the five day event that occurs in the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar.

PHOTO:Muslim pilgrims join one of the Hajj rituals on Mount Arafat near Mecca, Sept. 23, 2015.
Muslim pilgrims join one of the Hajj rituals on Mount Arafat near Mecca, Sept. 23, 2015.
PHOTO: Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 22, 2015.
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 22, 2015.

Every individual of the Islamic faith is supposed to do the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime in order to foster a spiritual bond between followers.

PHOTO: Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2015, during the hajj pilgrimage.
Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2015, during the hajj pilgrimage.
PHOTO:Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira mosque in Arafat, on the second and most significant day of the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2015.
Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira mosque in Arafat, on the second and most significant day of the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2015.

Despite a recent crane crash that killed 100 people and security concerns, men and women partake in Hajj.

A sea of people wearing white garments called Ihram could be seen circling the holy shrine, Kaaba, at the Grand Mosque starting on Tuesday.

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