Saudi Arabia, one of the worst-hit countries in the Middle East by coronavirus, is preparing to host the annual hajj pilgrimage, albeit on a significantly reduced scale. Umer Karim, visiting fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, says while hosting the hajj is a prestige for the Saudi Kingdom and of great religious significance, the country is wary of the health impact.
Subscribe to France 24 now:
http://f24.my/youtubeEN
FRANCE 24 live news stream: all the latest news 24/7
http://f24.my/YTliveEN
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
http://f24.my/youtubeEN
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
In This Story: Hajj
The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims, who visit the Kaaba, a cubic structure at the centre of the Grand Mosque.
Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. In 2020 AD (1441 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah extends from 22 July to 19 August.
According to the official published statistics between 2000 and 2019, the average number of attendees is 2,269,145 per year, in which 1,564,710 come from outside Saudi Arabia and 671,983 are local.
In June 2020, while not cancelling the Hajj outright, the Saudi Government announced that they would only welcome “very limited numbers” of pilgrims who are residents of Saudi Arabia due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
3 Recent Items: Hajj