MAKKAH, July 4 — White-robed worshippers from across the world have packed the streets of Makkah as Islam’s holiest city prepares to host the biggest haj pilgrimage since the...
MAKKAH, July 4 — White-robed worshippers from across the world have packed the streets of Makkah as Islam’s holiest city prepares to host the biggest haj pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic.
One million people, including 850,000 from abroad, are allowed at this year’s haj — a key pillar of Islam that all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform at least once — after two years of drastically curtailed numbers due to the pandemic.In 2019, about 2.5 million people took part in the rituals, which include circling the Kaaba, the imposing black cube at Makkah’s Grand Mosque, gathering at Mount Arafat and “stoning the devil” in Mina.
The rituals have seen numerous disasters, including a 2015 stampede that killed up to 2,300 people and a 1979 attack by hundreds of gunmen that left 153 dead, according to the official toll.The pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a powerful source of prestige for the conservative desert kingdom and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is returning from the diplomatic wilderness.
It is also a chance to showcase a country that is undergoing rapid transformation, while still drawing regular complaints about human rights abuses and limits on personal freedoms. Since the start of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has registered more than 795,000 coronavirus cases, 9,000 of them fatal, in a population of about 34 million.
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