Timeframe: Sheikh Zayed and other pilgrims gather in Mina

 

Sheikh Zayed, who had been president of the UAE for eight years in 1979 when this photograph was taken, begins another Haj at Mina. He, like all other pilgrims, is wearing the white garment of Ihram.

While in Mina, Sheikh Zayed addressed a speech to Muslims, calling on Allah to grant unity to the Muslim community. He urged Muslims not to give up their hopes of liberating the holy places of Palestine. He repeated the position of the UAE to support the Palestinian struggle "until God proves the right and invalidates dishonesty".

Mina is about 5km from Mecca. On the first day of the Haj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that begins tomorrow, pilgrims gather in Mina. After morning prayers but before sunrise on the second day, pilgrims set off to Mount Arafat, where they stay until before sunset. It was on Mount Arafat that the Prophet Mohammed delivered his farewell sermon. It is a day of forgiveness.

After sunset, pilgrims move to Muzdalifah, where they collect chickpea-sized stones, 21 in all. After midnight, pilgrims move on to Mecca where at the Grand Mosque in the heart of the city they circle the black granite Kaaba seven times before returning to Mina for the ritual stoning of the devil at the Jamarat Bridge.

Time Frame is a series that opens a window into the nation's past. Each week it features an image from the archives of both prominent institutions and private collections. Readers are invited to make contributions to [e-mail]