This year, Saudi Arabia’s hajj ministry “allowed one million pilgrims. (FILE)
Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would allow one million Muslims from home and abroad to participate in this year’s hajj, a sharp increase after pandemic restrictions forced two years to fall. light pilgrimages.
The move, while unlikely to restore normal hajj conditions, provided hopeful news to many Muslims outside the kingdom, who have been barred from making the trip since 2019.
As one of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be performed by all the followers of Islam who have the means at least once in their life. Usually one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, around 2.5 million people participated in 2019.
But after the coronavirus pandemic broke out in 2020, Saudi authorities only allowed 1,000 pilgrims to participate.
The following year, they increased their total to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents selected through a lottery.
This year, Saudi Arabia’s hajj ministry “allowed one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform the hajj,” the ministry said in a pre-dawn statement on Saturday.
The age limit is criticized
The pilgrimage, which will take place in July, will be limited to vaccinated Muslims under the age of 65, the statement said.
Those arriving from outside Saudi Arabia, who must apply for a hajj visa, will also have to submit a negative Covid-19 PCR result from a test within 72 hours of travel this year. travel.
The government wants to promote the safety of pilgrims “while ensuring that the maximum number of Muslims worldwide can perform the hajj”, the statement said.
The hajj consists of a series of religious rites that are completed over five days in Islam’s holiest city, Mecca and neighboring western Saudi Arabia.
Authorities took some extraordinary measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus last year, including dividing pilgrims into groups of 20 and handing out disinfectants, masks and disinfected pebbles. for the “stoning of Satan” ritual.
But the relatively small crowds have worried Muslims abroad.
“We are deeply saddened and hurt for the past two years because of the small number of pilgrims. The scene is horrible,” Mohamed Tamer, 36, a resident of Cairo, said on Saturday.
“I’m glad the hajj will return to normal to some extent,” he added, although he also expressed concern about rising costs for flights and hotels.
Reactions to Saturday’s announcement are generally positive on social media, although some Twitter users expressed concern about what will happen to pilgrims who have sponsored trips to Mecca – only to have their plans ruined by a positive Covid-19 test.
Others criticized the age limit.
“Such great news, but imposing an age limit is heartbreaking for many age hajj participants,” one user wrote in response to the hajj ministry’s announcement.
Zeinab Mostafa, 71, told AFP from her home in Cairo that the rules “make me hope to do the hajj before I die”.
“My dream of performing Hajj was lost,” she added in tears.
Reputation issue
Hosting the hajj is a matter of prestige for Saudi Arabia’s rulers, as custody of Islam’s holiest sites is their strongest source of political legitimacy.
Before the pandemic, Muslim pilgrimages were the main source of revenue for the kingdom, bringing in about $12 billion a year.
The kingdom of about 34 million people has recorded more than 751,000 cases of coronavirus, including 9,055 deaths, according to Health Ministry figures.
In early March, they announced the lifting of most of the Covid restrictions including social distancing in public spaces and quarantine for those who had been vaccinated, moves that were supposed to facilitated an increase in Muslim pilgrims.
The decision includes the suspension of “social distancing measures in all open and closed places” including mosques. Masks are now only required in closed spaces.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
