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MANILA, May 25, 2026 (SDN) — With the backdrop of a turbulent Middle East because of the unprovoked war against Iran, the annual Hajj, Islam’s pilgrimage to Mecca, starts today, Monday, with close to two million participants.
Around 5,300 Filipino pilgrims are among the participants of one of the world’s largest religious activities as the international pilgrims for Hajj 2026 have reached over 1.5 million. The rest comes from inside Saudi Arabia, host and caretaker of Islam’s two holiest sites, the Masjidil Haram (Grand Mosque in Mecca) and Masjidil an-Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque) in Madinah.
The Filipino pilgrims are under the management and care of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) headed by Secretary Sabuddin N. Abdurahim, this year’s “ameerul hajj”, or head of Philippines Hajj Mission.
He told SDN Online through a message on social media that everything’s OK with the Filipino pilgrims, who moved from Mecca on Sunday evening (March 24) to Mina, the Tent City near Mecca, for the “Tarwiyyah” before proceeding to the plains of Arafat the following morning.
In Arafat is where the paramount ritual of the pilgrimage called the “Uqof” or “Standing in Arafah” takes place on May 26. According to Islamic religious leaders, pilgrims must stay in Arafat a part of the day and a part of the night, that’s why they are to leave the plains starting only at sunset then go down to Muzdalifah, where they will stay overnight to pray, then pick up 47 peebles for the symbolic “Stoning of the Devil”.
The pilgrims will then move by bus to the Tent City of Mina for the stoning rituals that takes two or three days to complete casting peebles at three massive walls representing Satan, or the devil.
In Mina, the hordes of pilgrims, men in in unsewn white cloth to symbolize purity, while women may chose any color they prefer, they will also celebrate Eid’l Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, that harkens back to the Patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim in Islam).
Pilgrims celebrate Eid’l Adha on May 27 at the climax of the Hajj
On Sunday, May 24, Director Zenodin M. Usudan of the Commission’s Bureau of Pilgrimage and Endowment (NCMF-BPE), told SDN Online that “tonight at 8 o’clock, Saudi time, the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah, all our pilgrims will go to Mina for the Tarwiyyah.”
Tarwiyyah is being done by of the pilgrims, local and international, following the tradition of Islam’s Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Many other pilgrims prefer to go to Arafat direct from Mecca.
Usudan assured the relatives of the Filipino pilgrims that the NCMF leadership continues to do everything to serve the pilgrims, “the guests of Allah”, the best way possible.
In Mina the pilgrims will also celebrate Eid’l Adha on May 27 to commemorate Abraham’s near sacrifice of his first born son, which in Islam is Ismael to test his obedience to God. But God replaced him with a ram before the Patriarch could make the supreme sacrifice.
Each pilgrim is expected to offer for “Qurban”, the ritual slaughter of a sheep or a goat as an act of worship to immortalize Abraham’s unwavering faith in God with 1/3 of the meat for their consumption, and the rest to be given to the poor.
The fifth pillar of Islam, the annual Hajj is obligatory to Muslims to perform if they can afford the cost at least once in a lifetime.
Islam’s five pillars are Shahaddah (Profession of Faith), Salah (5 Daily Prayers), Sawm (Ramadhan Fasting), Zakat (Obligatory Charity), and Hajj.
Despite the unprovoked and devilish attack on Iran by the United States and Israel starting on February 28, 2026, with the massacre of 164 young girl students and their teachers in Minab, a savage misdeed devoid of humanity, the Hajj has attracted more Pilgrims from abroad and surpassed last year’s pilgrimage attendance.
Amid the presence of millions of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, the clouds of war still hang over the Middle East as the ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been a delicate balance teetering on another calamitous event.
But the millions of pilgrims including the Filipinos seemed unfazed and unafraid, as they start their religious journey.
The Mecca pilgrimage is performed yearly for five to six days — from the 8th to 12th or 13th of Dhul-Hijjah (Islam’s 12th and last month of the lunar-based Hijri 1447 calendar. In 2026, these dates correspond to March 25 to 29 or 30. — EDD K. USMAN (✓)