MAKKAH -- Indonesian hajj pilgrim has started to depart to Arafah on Saturday (9/10) morning. They gradually left Makkah since then. 

The first batch dispatched to Arafah from 07.00 until 12.00 local time. The second batch took the bus to Arafah around 13.00 until 16.00 in the afternoon. The rest of Indonesian hajj pilgrim went there started from 16.00 until 00.00.

Since wukuf is an obligatory ritual, the pilgrimage is considered invalid for those who do not make it for the event. About 1.5 million Muslims have begun the hajj, making the same journey as the Prophet Muhammad did about 1,400 years ago.

Hajj pilgrim protection staff has already double-checked the lodges to make sure no one was left behind. "We have swept all of the lodges to ensure no single hajj pilgrim was late to Arafah," Wagirun Tupan Towinangun as the head of section Hajj Pilgrim Protection (Perlindungan Jamaah) PPIH Saudi Arabia on Sunday (9/11).

Today, main rituals of the hajj will be done in Arafat. Saudi Arabia's top cleric, according to BBC, will not deliver a traditional Hajj sermon to pilgrims for the first time in 35 years, due to illness.

The speech from Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the grand mufti, usually marks the peak of the Muslim pilgrimage. He will be replaced by Sheikh Saleh bin Hamid, newspaper al-Riyadh reported, but there has been no official confirmation.

Dunyanews.tv reported today the pilgrims will listen to the sermon in Masjid Nimra and will offer combined Asr and Zohar prayers. 

After staying whole day in Arafat, pilgrims will travel back to Mazdalfa after Maghrib prayer. The Maghrib and Isha prayers will be offered together. Whole night will be spent in Mazdalfa under open sky and will offer Fajr prayer on 10 Zill Hajj, after which they will travel back to Mina.

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