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Saudi Arabia to allow one million hajj pilgrims this year
Saudi Arabia said it will permit one million Muslims to participate in this year's hajj, a sharp uptick after pandemic restrictions forced two years of pared-down pilgrimages.
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This picture taken on July 28, 2020 shows a view of the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, in the holy city of Mecca, with rings laid in place around it to separate pilgrims as part of social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP/- )
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audi Arabia said Saturday it will permit one million Muslims from inside and outside the country to participate in this year's hajj, a sharp uptick after pandemic restrictions forced two years of drastically pared-down pilgrimages.
The move, while falling short of reinstating normal hajj conditions, offered hopeful news for many Muslims outside the kingdom who have been barred from making the trip since 2019.
One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives. Usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings, about 2.5 million people took part in 2019.
But after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Saudi authorities allowed only 1,000 pilgrims to participate.
The following year, they upped the total to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents chosen through a lottery.
This year the Saudi hajj ministry "has authorised one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform the hajj," it said in a pre-dawn statement Saturday.
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