Muslim pilgrims gather for prayers at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage in August 2018. (Photo: AFP)
The largest annual gathering on earth, the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, has been scaled down to include only around 1,000 Muslim pilgrims this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.
The hajj, considered the fifth and final pillar of Islam, begins this year on July 29. In regular times, more than 2.5 million of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims visit the holy city of Mecca to perform the pilgrimage.
This year the hajj will be conducted under strict hygiene protocols with permission given to only pilgrims under 65 years old and those without any chronic illnesses.
Pilgrims will have to undergo a coronavirus test before arriving in Mecca and will have to quarantine at home after the pilgrimage, according to Saudi Arabian health officials.
The pilgrimage will be limited to 1,000 people who are already present in the kingdom. Some 70 percent are foreigners, while the rest are from Saudi Arabia's 29 million Muslim residents, officials said.
People of 160 nationalities have been chosen to attend the hajj this year. They started a seven-day quarantine on July 19, said the Hajj and Umrah Ministry.
Zayed Al Tuwailan, commander of Haj Security Forces, said on July 19 that security arrangements were already in place for pilgrims, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
During the hajj, pilgrims converge on the tent city of Mina before traveling to other holy sites such as Mount Arafat and the Grand Mosque of Mecca.
During the event lasting five or six days, they meet other Muslims, pray together and perform symbolic rituals. They wear white garments and abstain from sexual relations.
Islam expects all able-bodied Muslims to do the hajj at least once in their lifetime. However, it was scaled down this year after health experts warned that millions gathering in congested places could spread coronavirus infections.
Infected to be isolated
The decision to exclude pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabiadfs is a first in the modern history of the kingdom, which has yet to restart international air links.
The Muslim World League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation based in Saudi Arabia have supported the government's decision.
Anyone caught transporting illegal pilgrims will risk 15 days in jail and a fine of up to 10,000 riyals (US$2,600), a senior Saudi official said.
Saudi Arabia has reported 253,349 Covid-19 cases including 2,523 deaths — the highest toll among countries in the Persian Gulf.
New measures unveiled last week state that worshipers will be required to wear masks and mass prayers will be conducted in compliance with social distancing norms. Those suspected of being infected will be isolated but allowed to finish the pilgrimage.
Anyone found without a permit at Mina, Muzdalifah or Arafat, the main hajj sites, will have to pay a fine. The amount will be doubled for repeat offenders.
Financial lossThe scaled-down hajj will be a major loss of revenue for Saudi Arabia, which is already reeling from the twin shocks of the virus and a slide in oil prices.
The smaller Umrah pilgrimage was suspended in March. The pilgrimages together add $12 billion to the Saudi exchequer every year, according to government figures.
For Saudi rulers who consider themselves custodians of Islam's holiest sites — a powerful source of political legitimacy — it is a matter of prestige to host the hajj.
Several nations have already banned their citizens from performing the hajj this year.
Since the first official hajj was held under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, the pilgrimage has been canceled many times due to wars, famines, diseases and political reasons.