内容摘要：“Thankfully, I am not here to defend the allegations in the underlying complaint,” Walker told the judge.

“Thankfully, I am not here to defend the allegations in the underlying complaint,” Walker told the judge.

ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) — More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for this year’s, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.

, a religious obligation involving rituals and acts of worship that every Muslim must fulfil if they have the money and are physically able to do it.Hajj Ministry spokesperson Ghassan Al-Nuwaimi provided an approximate number for foreigners at this year’s pilgrimage. He did not say how many domestic pilgrims were taking part. Last year, there were 1,611,310 pilgrims from outside the country.On Wednesday, pilgrims streamed into

, some making the journey on foot, carrying their luggage through temperatures nudging 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Others carried the elderly.People paused to sit on the ground to rest or eat before heading to their camps.

Mount Arafat, a rocky hill southeast of Mecca, holds immense significance in Islam. Arafat is mentioned in the Quran and it is where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have given his last sermon on his final Hajj.

According to traditional sayings of the prophet, the Day of Arafat is the most sacred day of the year, when God draws near to the faithful and forgives their sins.Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic tale of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac.

In Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joined thousands of congregants, including foreign tourists, and offered morning prayers at a mosque near his office in Putrajaya, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.Meanwhile at a wholesale market in Selayang, just outside the capital, Muslim workers there knelt on mats placed on a large piece of white cloth laid outside the market to perform their prayers.

Kashmiri Muslims offer Eid al-Adha prayers outside the Hazratbal shrine on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)Kashmiri Muslims offer Eid al-Adha prayers outside the Hazratbal shrine on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)