Saudi Arabia announces the return of Hajj pilgrimage

SAUDI ARABIA - Islam's annual hajj pilgrimage which normally takes place in Saudi Arabia is set to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.

This new announcement was made on Monday by Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq bin Fawzan al-Rabiah at a conference about the hajj in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

The return of the physical Hajj pilgrimage comes after the annual religious commemoration was curtailed over concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

Al-Rabiah has cautioned those seeking to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage mission outside the Kingdom of Saudi to deal with any licensed company that meets the requirements of the pilgrims of those countries.

The hajj, required of all able-bodied and financially able Muslims once in their life, represents one of the world's largest gatherings of people.
Before the pandemic, the pilgrimage drew millions each year to Islam's holy city of Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times a day.

In 2019, it's estimated that over 2.4 million people took part in the pilgrimage. But in 2020, amid the lockdowns sparked by the pandemic, Saudi Arabia drastically curtailed the hajj with as few as 1,000 residents of Saudi Arabia permitted to take part. It was an unprecedented move unseen even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide.

The coronavirus isn't the first public health disaster to strike the hajj. The kingdom’s Al Saud ruling family stakes its legitimacy in this oil-rich nation on overseeing and protecting the hajj sites. Ensuring the hajj happens has been a priority for them — and also a main economic driver bringing billions of dollars of non-oil revenue to Saudi Arabia.

Disease outbreaks have always been a concern surrounding the hajj. Pilgrims fought off a malaria outbreak in 632, cholera in 1821 killed an estimated 20,000, and another cholera outbreak in 1865 killed 15,000 before spreading worldwide.

More recently, Saudi Arabia faced danger from a different coronavirus, one that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. The kingdom increased its public health measures during the hajj in 2012 and 2013, urging the sick and the elderly not to take part.

In recent years, Saudi officials also instituted bans on pilgrims coming from countries affected by the Ebola virus.

It wasn't immediately clear what health precautions would be taken for the hajj, which falls according to the lunar-based Islamic calendar this year at the end of June. While Saudi Arabia has no requirement for coronavirus vaccines or testing, it does require pilgrims to be vaccinated for other maladies.

Muslims have been prohibited from kissing or touching the cube-shaped Kaaba, the metaphorical house of God at the center of Mecca that pilgrims circle as they complete the hajj.

GAROWE ONLINE