Riyadh: Saudi Arabia will host a hajj which is debated from Saturday, with only residents who are fully vaccinated against the permitted Coronavirus and Muslim pilgrims abroad which are banned by the second year.
The kingdom tried to repeat last year’s success that did not see a virus outbreak during a five-day Muslim ritual.
This allows 60,000 residents of Saudi Arabia to participate, higher than 2020 but drastically lower than in normal times.
People will begin to arrive on Saturday, the day before the ritus starts.
In 2019, around 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world participated in the annual pillars of Islam which was a necessity for Muslims who were able to be at least once in their lifetime.
Earlier this month, the Hajj Ministry said he was working on the “highest level of health prevention measures” in the light of the pandemic and the emergence of a new variant.
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, he said.
Pilgrimage, which usually packs a large crowd into solid religious sites, potentially super spreaders of viruses.
Apart from strict social distance measures, the Ministry said it would introduce “smart Hajj cards” to allow contact-free access to camps, hotels and buses to ferry pilgrims around religious locations.
The card system will also help track lost pilgrims, he added.
The authorities have deployed a black-and-white robot to remove the bottle of holy water from the spring of Zamzam at the Great Mosque of Mecca, built around the Kaaba, black cubic structure where Muslims throughout the world pray.
Respected black stone in Kaaba – which is a habit but is not mandatory to touch during pilgrimage – expected to be kept out of reach.
Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 503,000 Coronavirus infections, including more than 8,000 deaths.
More than 20 million doses of vaccines against Coronavirus have been given in more than 34 million countries.
Hajj continued to advance last year on the smallest scale in modern history, with the authorities initially said only 1,000 pilgrims were permitted but local media said up to 10,000 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.
They are also given an convenience kit that includes sterilized gravel for the “demon lament” ritual, disinfectant, mask, prayer carpet, and ihram, traditional smooth white pilgrimage garment, which is made of bacterial resistant material.
Hosting Hajj is a prestige problem for the Saudi ruler, for whom the Kustodianship of the most holy Islamic sites is the most powerful source of political legitimacy.
But the restrictions on foreign pilgrims have caused hatred and sadness among Muslims throughout the world, which usually save for years to take part.
“The Saudi government wants to play it fully safe by banning foreign pilgrims for the second consecutive year,” Umar Karim, a colleague visit at the Royal United Institute of United Kingdom, told AFP.
“But frustration grows throughout the world of Muslims who can ask questions about the role of the kingdom as a guardian of holy mosques and produce reducing religious soft power.” It also spelled disaster for the Hajj economy throughout the world.
“Hajj and year – General Umrah pilgrimage is usually the main income for the kingdom, not to mention travelers and travel agents.
In normal times, they jointly swept around $ 12 billion (10.3 billion euros) every year, maintaining the economy humming in Mecca.
But the ritual downsizing, which will run until Tuesday, the first day of the post-Ramadhan vacation, has regarding the revenue of government and businesses that support hundreds of thousands of jobs in the holy city, from travel agents to street barns and souvenir shops , Mecca has seen construction boom in recent years that adding a shopping center, apartments and luxury hotels, some offering spectacular views of the Holy Kaaba.
But most places have seen fewer customers since Pande MIC.
“Confirmation that the pilgrimage Hajj Saudi government It will be very limited this year will burden the economic recovery of the Kingdom, “Economic Capital, Pene Consultation Lithian.
“The government is clearly worried that greater Hajj can trigger a surge in Covid-19 cases and may risk importing a new virus variant, which can force them to tighten the restrictions that endanger the economy.”