Mecca: Pilgrims began arriving within the Celestial City of Mecca on Saturday for the second downsized hajj staged during the coronavirus pandemic, circling Islam’s holiest site in masks and on distanced paths.
The kingdom is allowing only 60,000 fully vaccinated residents to require part, seeking to repeat last year’s success that saw no virus outbreak during the five-day ritual.
This year’s hajj, with participants chosen through a lottery, is larger than the pared-down version staged in 2020 but drastically smaller than in normal times, stoking resentment among Muslims abroad who are barred once more .
After being loaded on buses and delivered to Mecca’s Grand Mosque, pilgrims began performing the “tawaf”, the circumambulation of the Kaaba, an outsized cubic structure draped in golden-embroidered black cloth, towards which Muslims round the world pray.
Many carried umbrellas to guard themselves from the scorching summer heat.
“Every three hours, 6,000 people enter to perform the tawaf of arrival,” hajj ministry spokesman Hisham al-Saeed told AFP. “After each group leaves, a sterilisation process is administered at the sanctuary.”
The hajj, usually one among the world’s largest annual religious gatherings with some 2.5 million people participating in 2019, is one among the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means a minimum of once in their lives.
It consists of a series of spiritual rites, formally starting on Sunday, which are completed over five days in Islam’s holiest city and its surroundings in western Saudi Arabia .
Golden ticket
Among the chosen ones this year was Ameen, a 58-year-old Indian oil contractor based within the eastern city of Dammam, who was picked for the ritual along side his wife and three adult children.
“We are overjoyed,” said Ameen.
“So many of our friends and relatives were rejected,” he told AFP.
Earlier this month, the hajj ministry said it had been performing on the “highest levels of health precautions” in light of the pandemic and therefore the emergence of latest variants.
Like the other countries of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia is home to significant expatriate populations from South Asia, the Far East , Africa also because the Middle East .
“I desire I won a lottery,” Egyptian pharmacist Mohammed El Eter said after being selected.
“This may be a special, unforgettable moment in one’s life. I thank God for granting me this opportunity , to be accepted among tons of individuals who applied,” the 31-year-old told AFP.
‘Restrict exposure’
Chosen from quite 558,000 applicants through a web vetting system, the event is confined to those that are fully vaccinated and are aged 18-65 with no chronic illnesses, consistent with the hajj ministry.
Pilgrims are going to be divided into groups of just 20 “to restrict any exposure to only those 20, limiting the spread of infection”, ministry undersecretary Mohammad al-Bijawi told official media.
Saudi Arabia has thus far recorded quite 507,000 coronavirus infections, including over 8,000 deaths.
More than 20 million vaccine doses are administered within the country of over 34 million people.
The hajj went ahead last year on the littlest scale in modern history. Authorities initially said just one ,000 pilgrims would be allowed, although local media said up to 10,000 eventually took part.
No infections were reported as authorities found out multiple health facilities, mobile clinics and ambulances to cater for the pilgrims, who were taken to the religious sites in small batches.
‘Biggest challenge’
In normal years, the pilgrimage packs large crowds into congested religious sites, but even this year’s downscaled events are seen as a possible mechanism for contagion.
“The biggest challenge of this hajj season are going to be for it to pass off with none Covid-19 infections,” a doctor performing at a hospital in Mecca told AFP by phone.
Worshippers were last year given amenity kits including sterilised pebbles for the “stoning of Satan” ritual, disinfectants, masks, a prayer mat and therefore the ihram, a standard seamless white hajj garment, made up of a bacteria-resistant material.
Hosting the hajj may be a matter of prestige for Saudi rulers, for whom the custodianship of Islam’s holiest sites is their most powerful source of political legitimacy.
But barring overseas pilgrims has caused deep disappointment among Muslims worldwide, who typically but years to require part.
The hajj ministry received anguished queries on Twitter from rejected applicants about the tightly-controlled government lottery.
“We are still anxiously waiting to be accepted, as if we’re facing an exam,” wrote one Twitter user.
And additionally to the various virus-related obstacles, the worth of participating during this year’s hajj, including official taxes, is 12,000 riyals ($3,200).
