Qualla: Mina, Saudi Arabia

Mina, Saudi Arabia: Introduction

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aiman titi, CC BY-SA 4.0. Fly over the Mina valley in the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijja and you will see what some maps still label the City of Tents. More than 100,000 white canvas tents, laid out in rigid rectangles 8 by 8 meters, stretch across a flat valley between mountains, cut by access roads and emergency exits and the bright-silver track of a metro line. The tents sleep roughly three million people. They have schools, clinics, dispensaries, a mosque, and a slaughterhouse district just outside. And for about five days each year they form the largest temporary settlement on Earth, before emptying again into silence.

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Image: Aiman titi | CC BY-SA 4.0

Mina, Saudi Arabia: Why Mina Exists

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fadi El Binni, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Hajj is a place-specific pilgrimage. Certain rituals must happen in certain locations, on certain days, in a certain order. For the overnight before the day of Arafat and the three or four nights after, pilgrims are supposed to camp at Mina, about 8 kilometers southeast of Me...

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Image: Fadi El Binni | CC BY-SA 2.0

Mina, Saudi Arabia: From Personal Tents to Permanent City

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aiman titi, CC BY-SA 3.0. For most of the Hajj's long history, pilgrims brought their own tents to Mina, pitched them, lived in them for the required nights, and dismantled them when they left. The scene must have looked the same for centuries: a valley briefly filled with the canvas and carpets and cookp...

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Image: Aiman titi | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mina, Saudi Arabia: The Valley of Disasters

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fadi El Binni of Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. For more than three decades, the Mina valley and the adjacent Jamaraat Bridge have been the site of repeated tragedies. On 23 May 1994, a stampede at the bridge killed more than 270 pilgrims. On 5 March 2001, 35 more. On 1 February 2004, at least 251 killed and 244 injured. On 12...

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Image: Fadi El Binni of Al Jazeera English | CC BY-SA 2.0

Mina, Saudi Arabia: The Mashaer Metro

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ali, CC BY-SA 2.5. Mina sits bounded by the al-Aziziyah district of Mecca to the west, the 4th Ring Road to the north, Muzdalifah to the east, and the al-Jami'ah district to the south. Getting millions of people through these boundaries on schedule is a logistical feat that required engineering at ...

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Image: Ali | CC BY-SA 2.5

Mina, Saudi Arabia: The Masjid al-Khayf

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Omar Chatriwala of Al Jazeera English, CC BY-SA 2.0. In the center of the valley stands the Masjid al-Khayf, the largest mosque in Mina, covering about 20,000 square meters. Islamic tradition connects it to Muhammad, who is said to have led prayers there during his Farewell Pilgrimage in 632 CE, the only Hajj he performed. Like the...

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Image: Omar Chatriwala of Al Jazeera English | CC BY-SA 2.0