With the setting of the sun, some two million Muslim pilgrims on Monday began their descent from Mount Arafat, a revered place in Islam where they had prayed for forgiveness and for Iraq to be spared an attack by the United States.The culmination of the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, behind them, they made their way to nearby Muzdalifa, where they were to gather small rocks to take part in a symbolic stoning of the devil in the Mina Valley on Tuesday.

Tuesday will also be the first day of the three-day feast of the sacrifice, or Eid al-Adha, recalling Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismhael to demonstrate his obedience to God.

The pilgrims from around the world earlier Monday set out from Mina on foot and in buses and small vehicles for Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] gave his farewell address 14 centuries ago.

"Here I am Allah, answering your call, there is no God but you," the sea of humanity, all dressed in white, chanted as they approached Arafat.

Standing on Mount Arafat before sunset is the culmination of the hajj, and pilgrims who fail to make it here on time must repeat their pilgrimage in future.

The faithful -- men clad in a two-piece seamless white cloth, the women covered except for the hands and face -- spent the day praying for forgiveness and beseeching God for success in a symbolic enactment of the Final Judgment at the scene of the Prophet's farewell speech.

Many pilgrims also prayed for peace and for Iraq to be saved and to emerge victorious in its confrontation with the United States over Baghdad's alleged concealment of weapons of mass destruction.

"May God protect Iraq and its people. They are my brothers. May God make Iraq victorious against its enemies," 40-year-old Khalil el-Ghandur from Egypt said.

"I pray for peace for all peoples on earth. I don't want war. I don't want to see my country taking part in military actions.

Iraqis are my Muslim brothers," added Omer Dogan, 27, from Turkey.

Others vented their anger at Washington and urged Arab and Muslim countries to break their silence and help defend Iraq.

"America wants to control the Arab world and its wealth. We are all soldiers for Iraq," asserted Faruq Ahmad, a 50-year-old engineer from Syria.

Saudi Arabia's grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, addressed the masses, lashing out at "enemies" of the Islamic world for targeting the faith and the economy of the Muslims.

"The struggle today is religious and economic. The enemies are trying to use any pretext to attack this nation" to control its economy, the mufti said in the main pilgrimage speech, although without making any mention of US threats against oil-rich Iraq.

"The Islamic Ummah (nation) is (also) being targeted by its enemies ... in its values, morals and culture," said the mufti; the Saudi kingdom's top religious Authority.

"Don't you see the tragedies that have been inflicting the Ummah? ... Don't you see how the enemies are gathering and are preparing to wage war on you? ... This has been caused by us because we abandoned the religion," he said.

On the ground, Iranian pilgrims were also expected to hold their annual anti-US rally.

Official figures show 1.431 million pilgrims have come from outside Saudi Arabia and up to 600,000 from various parts of the kingdom. Around 200,000 Makkah residents have joined them.

Thousands of police, soldiers and paramilitary troops were stationed along the routes to Arafat as helicopters hovered overhead. Saudi authorities said security had been extra tight this year in light of regional tension as the United States steps up threats to invade and occupy Iraq, a predominantly Islamic nation and Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor.

The hajj has so far passed off peacefully without major incidents. The health ministry said no diseases have been reported. Some 25 pilgrims, mostly elderly, have died of natural causes.

Arafat is a small plain, some 250 meters (yards) above sea level, surrounded by high mountains from all directions. Pilgrims stay the day under thousands of tents and in the open.

Many trucks, parked by the side of the road, were distributing food and water free to pilgrims.

Muslims must perform the hajj at least once in their lifetime, if they have the physical and financial means

PHOTO CAPTION

After praying at Mount Arafat, the main ritual of their holy pilgrimage of hajj, pilgrims make their way to Muzdalifa, Monday, Feb. 10, 2003 in Saudi Arabia. At Muzdalifa pilgrims collect pebbles to stone symbols of Satan. Saudi Arabia's top religious Authority warned more than 2 million pilgrims against enemies of Islam at Mount Arafat Monday, saying Muslims can not be defeated by military might as long as they remain steadfast in their faith. (AP Photo/Amel