Muhammad

Part two: All pilgrims are equal but some are more equal than others

The Pakistani and the Saudi

It's 1am and we’re on our bus drive from the tent city of Mina to Arafat , where pilgrims spend the daylight hours at the plains surrounding Mount Arafat, before moving on.

It was a sight that had a post-apocalyptic aura about it and made me swallow the moisture in my mouth.

For 4km, lining the street like jagged stitches on an otherwise neat garment, were tens of thousands of pilgrims, clad in ihram, most of them deep in sleep ahead of the momentous day ahead.

A day so significant the Prophet Muhammad stated, "Hajj IS Arafat". Muslims believe that any prayer a pilgrim makes with utmost sincerity at Arafat will be accepted.