MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia -- Nearly 3 million Muslim pilgrims gathered around a mountain east of Mecca Sunday at the peak of the haj to beg God`s forgiveness, chanting: "O God, I am answering your call!".

At noon, pilgrims were still trickling into the area filled with thousands of tents in the plain of Arafat, 15 km east of Mecca where they will pray until sunset. Men in white seamless robes and veiled women in long dresses wept with emotion under the desert sun while sprinklers on top of towering posts sprayed water to cool the air. The weather was mild by Saudi standards at around 30 Celsius.

"Being here is better than anything I had ever experienced ... better than the time I saw my children for the first time," said Rawya Muhammad, a secretary from Egypt.

Rawya was one of many who arrived before dawn, some on foot, others on buses and thousands on top of any vehicle they could find.

"I feel privileged. I am one in a million Muslims with the honor of performing pilgrimage this year. This is a reward," said Omar Salah, a 38-year-old engineer from Egypt.

An aerial view of Muslim pilgrims on Mount Mercy outside Mecca December 7, 2008. More than two million Muslims began the haj pilgrimage on Saturday, heading to a tent camp outside the holy city of Mecca to follow the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago. [Agencies]

The haj retraces the path of Prophet Muhammad 14 centuries ago after he removed pagan idols from Mecca, his birthplace, and years after he started calling people to the new faith, now embraced by more than 1 billion people worldwide.

At Arafat, Muslims pray for forgiveness and for their own and fellow Muslims` welfare. The pilgrims will later move under the night sky to Muzdalifa to collect pebbles to stone walls symbolising the devil at the Jamarat Bridge over a period of three days. "It will be sudden, at one moment everyone is sitting or standing then the sun starts to go down and they all will move in the same direction," said a prayer leader.

Some pilgrims said they would also pray for an end to the global financial crisis. "The economic crisis is on the mind of most pilgrims. They are going to pray to God to alleviate the problem ... It`s an unexpected crisis and the only solution is mercy from heaven," said Muhammad Fateh, who works for a brokerage in Egypt.

"The Arab and Muslim worlds are going to be affected by this crisis. I`ll pray to God to lift this scourge," he said, adding that many had asked him to offer prayers on their behalf.

Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh said in a sermon that straying from Islamic sharia law was behind the global financial collapse and other problems.

Muslim pilgrims pray at Namira mosque outside Mecca December 7, 2008. More than two million Muslims began the haj pilgrimage on Saturday, heading to a tent camp outside the holy city of Mecca to follow the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago. [Agencies] 

Muslim pilgrims rest on the plains of Arafat outside the holy city of Mecca December 7, 2008. More than two million Muslims began the haj pilgrimage on Saturday, heading to a tent camp outside Mecca to follow the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago. [Agencies] 

Muslim pilgrims pray on Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat outside the holy city of Mecca December 7, 2008. More than two million Muslims began the haj pilgrimage on Saturday, heading to a tent camp outside Mecca to follow the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago. [Agencies] 

A Muslim pilgrim prays on Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat outside the holy city of Mecca December 7, 2008. More than two million Muslims began the haj pilgrimage on Saturday, heading to a tent camp outside Mecca to follow the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago. [Agencies]