United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who is on a six-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS), has shared the image of Mecca from space. The pic appeared on his official Twitter handle just before the world celebrated Eid. Mr Al Neyadi recently made history by becoming the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk. He trained for more than 55 hours at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, while preparing for spacewalks.
"Today is Arafat Day, a pivotal day during Hajj, that reminds us that faith is not just about belief, but also action and reflection. May it inspire us all to strive for compassion, humility, and unity. Here's a view of the holy site of Mecca that I captured yesterday," he said in his tweet. It has been viewed more than 1.5 lakh times.
On the Day of Arafat, millions of pilgrims gather around Mount Arafat, near Mecca in Saud Arabia, to perform prayers.
The hajj is among the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims who have the means to do so at least once in their lives.
Mr Al Neyadi did not say in his tweet whether he has yet made the pilgrimage.
"The pilgrimage rite begins on the seventh day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic year, and ends on the 12th day," according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
However, restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic saw Saudi authorities limit the number of pilgrims in 2020 and introduce an age cap of 65.
The measures were finally cancelled in January this year, making way for the largest hajj since the pandemic, with thousands of elderly among the worshippers.
