Thousands of Kenyan pilgrims will on Thursday join three million others from around the world for the climax of the hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Numbering about 2,000, they will together with other faithful spend the day in prayer, fasting and meditation on the plain of Arafat.

"This is the most important day in the hajj and whoever misses it has actually misses out on the abundant spiritual blessings of the pilgrimage," said Sheikh Muhammad Swalihu, the leader of Jamia Mosque in Nairobi.

Other Muslims who did not make it to Mecca will join in the fasting from dawn to dusk.

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca is an obligation for every Muslim who can afford the trip and is healthy enough to travel.

Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. About 2.5 million Muslims are in Mecca for the annual hajj pilgrimage. Photo: Hassan Ammar/AP

Separately, the Chief Kadhi Hammad Kassim has insisted Muslims will observe the Eid ul Adhaa celebrations tomorrow to mark the end of the pilgrimage rituals in Mecca.

He dismissed reports that a section of Muslims plan to celebrate the holiday on Saturday based on a different reading of Islamic calendar.

"We urge the entire Muslim community to be united and celebrate this important occasion as a single body and not as a divided house," said Sheikh Kassim.

In the past, Muslims have observed the celebrations on different days, a fact which has left many faithful confused.

Muslims are expected to celebrate the Eid ul Adhaa on Friday by sacrificing goats or sheep and distributing the meat to the poor.

Special prayers in open fields to express appreciation to God will also mark the day. Business is also expected to peak as families spend on food, clothes and entertainment.

Since Monday, Kenyan pilgrims in Mecca have been busy with the various rituals of the hajj, which include jogging between two hills in Mecca as well as walking around the cube-shaped building called the Kaaba.

Muslims believe Abraham and his son Ishmael built the Kaaba thousands of years ago as a dedication to God.

The pilgrims are expected back from Tuesday next week.

Meanwhile, rare, heavy rainstorms soaked pilgrims and flooded the road into Mecca, snarling Islam’s annual hajj as millions of Muslims headed for the holy sites.

The downpours add an extra hazard on top of intense concerns about the spread of swine flu.

Pilgrims in white robes porting umbrellas, some wearing face masks for fear of the flu, circled the Kaaba in Mecca, the opening rite for the hajj. But the shrine — Islam’s holiest site — and the nearby, rain-soaked streets did not see the usual massive crowds, because many tried to stay inside nearby hotels or were caught up in the traffic jams heading into the city.

The hajj is always a logistical nightmare, as a population the size of a small city moves between Mecca and holy sites in the nearby desert over the course of four days.

In the past, the rites have been plagued by deadly stampedes caused by congestion as the massive crowds perform the rituals.

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