they come together as one on the plains
of arafat under the hot saudi sun nearly
3 million muslims spend the day in
prayer and meditation
all hoping god will hear their prayers
on this the second day of the hajj
muslims believe this ritual is a dress
rehearsal for the day of judgment and
when the sun sets the pilgrimage reaches
its climax this is a day of forgiveness
a day of emancipation
a day for of forgiveness and that's what
hajj is all about is is becoming a newly
born person for leslie rohn an
american-born muslim convert the
experience of performing her first hajj
is a dream come true
we spoke to her just hours before she
set out for arafat
just thinking about the day's
significance filled her with emotion
i'm going to be praying for forgiveness
for my sins and um and that i think is
what we all are after
and you know there are a lot of things
that we do consciously and unconsciously
i i want a closer relationship with god
this 49 year old resident of california
is a long way from home and she says she
is relishing every minute of her
spiritual journey but she admits
performing the ritual of
circumambulating the kaaba is at times
physically overwhelming there are times
when you have to you have to kind of put
down that spiritual piece of it and just
focus on staying safe she converted to
islam three years ago because she'd
grown dissatisfied with catholicism in
islam she says she found the connection
to god she'd been yearning for every
muslim who is financially and physically
able is required to perform the hajj at
least once during their lifetime while
other muslims agonize about when to
actually make the trip leslie says it
was an easy decision for her back home
in the u.s as she made her final
preparations for her trip to mecca she
explained why it's a really great time
to go it's winter in saudi arabia so
it's probably only 95 degrees during the
day
and
i'm very excited about going so it's
something i've wanted to do ever since i
converted but the hajj is not simply
about getting closer to god over the
course of this five-day religious
gathering muslims from all around the
world will also be striving to get
closer to each other now that the sun
has said leslie and the millions of
other pilgrims will relocate to mustafa
they'll collect the small pebbles needed
for the hajji's stoning ritual and also
take the opportunity to have a meal get
some rest and reflect on the high point
of the hajj i just say cnn arafat saudi
arabia