60,000 pilgrims begin Hajj rites
Kingdom aims for repeat of last year, with no cases of COVID-19 at holy sites
All have been fully vaccinated and are aged from 18 to 65, with no chronic illnesses.
On the first day of the five-day ritual, pilgrims boarded buses at four assembly points to take them to the Grand Mosque in Makkah where they performed tawaf, the circumambulation of the Kaaba. Many carried umbrellas for protection from the sun in temperatures of 41C.
“Every three hours, 6,000 people enter to perform the tawaf of arrival,” Hajj Ministry spokesman Hisham Saeed said. “After each group leaves, a sanitization process is carried out at the sanctuary.”
More than 2.5 million pilgrims normally take part in the Hajj, but last year numbers were restricted to 1,000 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This year’s 60,000 pilgrims were selected from more than half-a-million applicants through an online vetting process.
Um and Abu Azzam, from Riyadh, were among the successful applicants. Um Azzam, 53, told Arab News: “We received the text message on the night of June 24 and the feeling was completely indescribable joy and happiness. We were hoping and praying to perform Hajj and our prayers were answered.”
Mariam Mohammed, 24, and her mother Um Mazin, a US expat, were also successful. “I’m so excited,” Marian said. “I’ve always wanted to perform Hajj but, for some reason it just never worked out. But it did this time.”
On Sunday the pilgrims will move on to Mina before the main rite at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon.