Haj pilgrims scale Arafat mount for sacred ritual

STORY: The pilgrims will spend a full day in the area, observing prayers and reading the Koran before moving onto Muzdalifa for stone-picking.

The Arafat ritual is the first of several performed during the five-day pilgrimage.

Nearly one million worshippers from nearly every country are in Saudi Arabia this week for the five-day ritual, which is a once-in-a-lifetime religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it.