Mecca: The pilgrims began to arrive in the holy city of Mecca on Saturday for the second downsized hajj which was staged during the Coronavirus pandemic, surrounding the most holy Islamic sites in the field of masks and on the distance route.
The kingdom only allowed 60,000 residents who were fully vaccinated to take part in participating, trying to repeat last year’s success that did not see a virus outbreak during a five-day ritual.
This year’s Hajj, with participants chosen through lotteries, greater than the pared-down version which was staged in 2020 but drastically smaller than normal time, triggered hatred among Muslims abroad which was banned once again.
After being loaded on the bus and taken to the Great Mosque of Mecca, pilgrims began to do “Tawaf”, Surgutasi Ka’bah, a large cubic structure wrapped in golden embroidery black cloth, in which Muslims worldwide praying.
Many carry umbrellas to protect themselves from summer heat.
“Every three hours, 6,000 people enter to do the arrival of the arrival,” said the Ministry of Haji Hisham Al-Saeed told AFP.
“After each group goes, the sterilization process is done in the sanctuary.” HAJ, usually one of the largest annual religious meetings in the world with around 2.5 million people taking part in 2019, is one of the five Islamic pillars and must be done by all Muslims in a way that at least in their lives.
It consists of a series of religious rituals, formally starting on Sundays, which are completed for five days in the most holy city of Islam and its surroundings in Western Saudi Arabia.
Among the ones chosen this year are Ameen, a 58-year-old Indian oil contractor based in the eastern city of Dammam, which is picked for rituals along with his wife and three adult children.
“We are very happy,” Ameen said.
“So many friends and our relatives are rejected,” he told AFP.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of HAJ said that it was working on the “highest level of health prevention measures” in the light of the new variant and the emergence of a new variant.
Like other Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia is home to a significant expatriate population from South Asia, Far East, Africa and the Middle East.
“I feel like winning a lottery,” said the Egyptian pharmacist, Mohammed El ether said after being chosen.
“This is a special and unforgettable moment in someone’s life.
I thank God for giving me this opportunity, to be accepted among many people who apply,” AFP said 31 years old.
Chosen from more than 558,000 applicants through an online inspection system, this event is limited to those who have been fully vaccinated and aged 18-65 without chronic diseases, according to HAJ services.
The pilgrims will be divided into groups of only 20 “to limit the exposure of only 20, limiting the spread of infection”, the Ministry of Class Mohammad Al-Bijawi told the official media.
Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 507,000 coronavirus infections, including more than 8,000 deaths.
More than 20 million doses of vaccines have been given in more than 34 million countries.
Haj forward last year on the smallest scale in modern history.
Authorities initially said only 1,000 pilgrims were permitted, although local media said up to 10,000 finally took part.
No infection reported as authorities established several health facilities, cellular clinics and ambulances to serve pilgrims, which were brought to religious locations in small batches.
In normal years, pilgrimage packed a large crowd into solid religious sites, but even events below this year were seen as a potential mechanism for transmission.
“The biggest challenge from the Hajj season will make it pass without Covid-19 infection,” a doctor who worked in a hospital in Mecca told AFP by telephone.
The worshipers were last year given the convenience kit including pebbles sterilized for rituals “stoning demons”, disinfectants, masks, prayer carpets and ihram, traditional smooth white hajj clothes, made of bacterial resistant material.
Hosting Hajj is a prestige problem for Saudi rulers, which for whom the Kustodianship of the most holy Islamic sites is the most powerful source of political legitimacy.
But restrictions of pilgrims abroad have caused deep disappointment among Muslims throughout the world, which usually save for years to take part.
The Hajj Ministry receives questions with Twitter from applicants who are rejected about strictly controlled government lotteries.
“We are still worried waiting to be accepted, as if we are facing the exam,” one Twitter user wrote.
And besides many obstacles related to viruses, prices participating in HAJ this year, including official taxes, are 12,000 riyals ($ 3,200).