Saudi Welcomes 1 Million For Biggest Hajj Pilgrimage Since Pandemic
The worshipers flared white from all over the world had packed the streets of Mecca when the most holy city of Islam prepared to host the largest pilgrimage pilgrimage since Pandemi Coronavirus.
The banners that welcomed the believer, including the first international visitors since 2019, the boxes and alleys were decorated, while the armed security forces patrolled in ancient cities, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.
This is pure joy,” Sudan Pilgrims Abdel Qader Kheder told AFP in Mecca, ahead of the event which is expected to begin on Wednesday. “I barely believe I’m here. I enjoy it all the time.”
One million people, including 850,000 from abroad, were permitted in the Hajj this year-the main pillar of Islam requested by all Muslims who were healthy to do at least once in two years the amount that was drastically restricted due to Pandemic.
In 2019, around 2.5 million people took part in the ritual, which included around Kaaba, an impressive black cube at the Mecca Besar Mosque, gathered at Arafat Mountain and “Palls the Devil” in Mina.
The following year, foreigners were banned and worshipers were limited to only 10,000, rising to 60,000 residents and Saudi residents who were fully vaccinated in 2021, to stop the pilgrimage from turning to super global spreaders.
One million pilgrims who are vaccinated under the age of 65 will attend the pilgrimage in strict sanitation conditions, with a large mosque, the most sacred site in Islam, rubbed and disinfected 10 times a day.
The ritual has seen many disasters, including Stampede 2015 which killed up to 2,300 people and 1979 attacks by hundreds of armed men who killed 153 people, according to official victims.
Pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a strong source of prestige for a conservative desert kingdom and De facto’s ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who returned from the diplomatic wilderness.
A few days after the pilgrimage, Prince Mohammed will welcome US President Joe Biden Yang Yang, with oil prices sent soaring by the Russian invasion to Ukraine, has broken the promise to turn Saudi Arabia into “Paria” for the 2018 Jamal Khashoggi Journalist by Saudi Agents in 2018 By journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Agent Saudi 2018 The Journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Agents Saudi 2018.
Hajj, which costs at least $ 5,000 per person, is a spinner of money for the largest oil exporter in the world, producing around $ 12 billion per year along with other religious visits.
This is also an opportunity to exhibit a country that is experiencing fast transformation, while still attracting routine complaints about human rights violations and the limits of personal freedom.
Saudi Arabia-who has been under reform recently allowed Rave in Riyadh and mixed gender beaches in Jeddah-also allowed women to attend the pilgrimage without being accompanied by male relatives, the requirements that were canceled last year.
Masks are no longer mandatory in most closed spaces in Saudi Arabia but they will be mandatory in large mosques. Pilgrims from abroad must submit negative PCR test results.
The large mosque will be “washed 10 times a day … by more than 4,000 male and female workers”, with more than 130,000 liters (34,000 gallons) disinfectants used every time, the authorities said.
Since the beginning of Pandemi, Saudi Arabia has registered more than 795,000 cases of Coronavirus, 9,000 of which are fatal, in a population of around 34 million.
Apart from Covid, another challenge is the hot sun in one of the hottest and dried areas in the world, which becomes more extreme through the effects of climate change.
Although the summer has just begun, the temperature has reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in several parts of Saudi Arabia.
But for Iraqi pilgrims Ahmed Abdul-Hassan Al-Fatlawi, hot weather was the last thing he thought of while in Mecca.
