ARAFAT: As pilgrims made their way toward Mount Arafat and the Namirah Mosque under the scorching sun, a group of young men and women volunteered to provide the faithful with cold water to help them avoid dehydration.

Scores of volunteers from different backgrounds who came to serve the pilgrims said they felt humbled and honored to help.

Makkah-based Mansour Murtadha, 27, volunteered to distribute cold water to pilgrims with Al Birr Charity Association. “I came with the association, and I am here distributing water to the pilgrims and helping them with all of their needs and questions,” Mansour told Arab News.

“I did this work as a good deed, and I just hope that their pilgrimage will be completed and accepted,” he said.

Omar Al-Zahrani, a member of the Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association in Arafat, said that his team distributed orange juice and cold water.

Indian couple Abdul Qadeer Pasha and Ayesha Afsar volunteered alongside the Indian Pilgrims Welfare Forum under the Indian Hajj Pilgrims office in the Consulate General of India.

“I am a volunteer, and as a volunteer, we need to direct the pilgrims, we need to serve them and we need to guide them,” Afsar said. “We are lucky to serve the people of Allah. We are giving away juices, such as apple juice, orange juice, and laban.”

Afsar added that no fixed hours were dedicated for volunteering; the time put in depended entirely on the volunteers’ availability. She arrived in Arafat with her husband and the other volunteers before Fajr prayers to prepare for the arrival of pilgrims.

“I am very happy because I am doing the work for the sake of Allah in the Consulate of India,” said Pasha. “We were also supplying wheelchairs to pilgrims.”

He added: “We are all doing our work for the sake of Allah. They are the guests of Allah, and we are both very happy, my wife and I, to be able to do this service for Allah.”

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance distributed around 150,000 bottles of cold water to pilgrims.

Police officers also gave out water bottles to the pilgrims, in addition to assisting and guiding them.

The Makkah Region Development Authority equipped the area with over 600 water coolers so pilgrims could use them while walking.

A massive water sprinkler system was also installed to help cool pilgrims, reduce heat, and refresh the air.

Samaher Awadh, a pilgrim from Cairo who came to the Kingdom to perform her first Hajj, was impressed by the sprinklers, which she spoke of to her family in Egypt on a video call. “I really like these huge sprinklers. They helped us cool down in the heat.”