Hajj 2020 begins — with 1,000 pilgrims, moderately than the standard 2 million

(CNN) — Islam’s most necessary annual pilgrimage started Tuesday with only a small fraction of its common variety of worshippers, amid issues over the coronavirus.

Solely round 1,000 pilgrims will attend the Hajj this 12 months as a consequence of new crowd management restrictions put in place by Saudi Arabia. The holy websites within the cities of Mecca and Medina usually host greater than 2 million individuals through the pilgrimage.

For the primary time in many years, worldwide vacationers have been barred from the Hajj. Some 70% of the worshippers this 12 months are international residents of Saudi Arabia, with the remaining being Saudi nationals. All of these chosen to participate are aged between 20 and 50.

Saudi Arabia — which has the best variety of Covid-19 infections within the Arab world — has known as this 12 months’s Hajj “unprecedented.” Beforehand, Saudi authorities had hinted that the annual pilgrimage, one among Islam’s 5 main pillars, might be canceled, calling on potential pilgrims to place their plans on maintain.

Employees inspecting preparations across the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, on the Grand Mosque within the holy metropolis of Mecca, on July 26.

Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP/Getty Photos

“Hajj in 2020 is a very distinctive pilgrimage by all measures,” Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Muhammad Saleh bin Taher Benten mentioned, in response to a press release by the dominion’s media ministry. “As a result of distinctive world well being circumstances brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, strict precautionary measures have been utilized to make sure a wholesome Hajj for all pilgrims.”

Staff sanitizing pilgrims’ baggage in a lodge foyer positioned close to Mecca’s Grand Mosque.

Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP/Getty Photos

Authorities say that pilgrims performing Hajj this 12 months have undergone a rigorous choice course of and that they had been required to undergo intervals of self-isolation earlier than arriving within the holy cities. They’re anticipated to quarantine after their arrival and upon their return, in response to the media ministry.

“This can be a very particular state of affairs we discover ourselves in,” mentioned Kehinde Qasim Yusuf, an Australian pilgrim at this 12 months’s Hajj. “We even have the privilege to carry out Hajj on behalf of all the Muslim world.”

Staff and safety on the Grand Mosque advanced, mask-clad and socially distanced as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, pray collectively.

AFP/Getty Photos

For the pilgrims who CNN spoke to, the Hajj comes as a aid after months of confinement and being away from household.

“Truthfully with every part that I went by way of, going by way of the isolation and having household so far-off, the chance to carry out Hajj made up for every part,” mentioned Yusuf, an assistant professor at Taibah College in Medina.

Saudi Arabia has nearly 270,000 confirmed Covid-19 circumstances and greater than 2,700 deaths. Earlier this 12 months, it suspended the Umrah — a smaller model of the Hajj that may happen at any time of the 12 months — over fears it might unfold the pandemic.

The Hajj is without doubt one of the greatest spiritual gatherings on the earth. It happens two months and 10 days after Ramadan ends, through the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah.

An image taken on July 26 exhibits the pillar at which Muslim pilgrims solid stones throughout a symbolic stoning of the satan, within the Mina neighborhood of Mecca.

Stringer/AFP/Getty Photos

The peak of Hajj corresponds with the main Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha, which commemorates Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his son on Divine orders.

The pilgrimage, carried out over 5 days, contains quite a few detailed rituals together with sporting a particular garment that symbolizes human equality and unity earlier than God, a round, counter-clockwise procession across the Kaaba, and the symbolic stoning of evil.

One other pilgrim, Moroccan-French 29-year-old Sarah Lagdaa, says that “every part occurred so quick within the means of making use of, getting chosen after which going by way of the medical checks and preparing.”

“So the quarantine is known as a helpful time to pause and relaxation and suppose,” she instructed CNN. “My mom cried out of pleasure once I instructed her. We have not seen one another since December 2019.”

Pilgrims arrive at King Abdulaziz Airport for the Hajj pilgrimage on July 25.

Yasser Bakhsh/AP

“I’ve the sensation that having your daughter removed from you and taking such a giant step in her religion as a ‘grown -up’ makes her proud.”

Commenting on the protection measures, Lagdaa mentioned it solely makes her really feel higher about performing the Hajj.

“I’m glad about this quarantine as a result of it implies that the Ministry of Hajj is taking excellent care of the pilgrims and placing well being a precedence,” she mentioned.

“I really suppose there would by no means be a greater time to carry out Hajj for me.”

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