The Saudi government has announced that the Arafa speech, an important part of the Haj pilgrimage, will now also be in Tamil.
Hajj is one of the 5 main duties of Muslims. A Muslim must undertake the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in his life. For this, millions of people from different countries of the world come to Mecca for pilgrimage. Their main site is the Kaaba, the principal mosque of Islam. It is believed that their duty will be fulfilled only by going around that mosque.
For the past 2 years, this pilgrimage has not been held due to the spread of Corona, curfew, etc. It was done by local people. Foreigners are set to be allowed again this year as relaxations are announced and normalcy is returning.
This year the Hajj festival will be held from July 7 to 12. Bakri Day will be observed in India from the evening of July 9 to the evening of July 10.
Arafah speech
In front of lakhs of pilgrims in the vast Maidan, a sermon will be delivered on the day of the crescent of Dulhan. Its name is Arafa text. It is said that the Prophet first delivered this speech 1400 years ago. Since then this custom has been followed continuously.
The speech will be delivered in Arabic by a cleric known as the Chief Imam and will be translated and broadcast in English, French, Malay, Urdu, Farsi, Russian, Chinese, Bengali, Turkish, and Hausa. The Saudi government has announced that the Arafa speech will be translated and broadcast in 4 additional languages - Tamil, Spanish, Hindi, and Swahili – starting this year. The chief cleric has also approved the translation of the Arafa text into these languages.
