The annual pilgrimage known as hajj began this week in the the Saudi city of Mecca, with an estimated 2 million Muslims from all corners of the earth making the trip.
The journey, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, involves the visiting of several holy sights and symbolic reenactments of important aspects of Muslim scripture. Pilgrims perform tawaf, circumambulating the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the center of Mecca's Great Mosque, seven times in a counterclockwise direction. They also make a ceremonial ascent of Mount Arafat, a hill east of the city.
"Saudi Arabia has been sending the message to the Muslim world to keep politics out of the Hajj and it seems that this is paying off," commentator Jamal Khashoggi told Voice of America. "When you look at the Muslims now in Mecca, some of them came from regions in turmoil, but those people are not fighting in Mecca."
Early Thursday morning, tragedy struck the region -- more than 700 pilgrims died in a stampede in Mina, Saudia Arabia, and 800 more were injured. It is not currently known how the stampede began but authorities are investigating.
Hajj lasts until Sept. 26.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.