The pilgrimage to Mecca begins after two years of parenthesis due to covid

the season of pilgrimage has started in Saudi Arabia, that these days receives thousands of Muslims traveling to the sacred city of Mecca to celebrate the hach, – the fifth pillar of Islamwhich stipulates that every Muslim must make a pilgrimage once in his life, whenever he can afford it, to the city of Mecca -, from July 7 to 12.

After two years in which the pilgrimage has been affected by the outbreak of the covid-19the country expects one million of faithful attend the ceremonies. In the last two editions, only a few thousand Saudi citizens and residents were able to attend the annual pilgrimage. So this year, again allow yourself to foreign pilgrims perform the hash

Even so, the authorities prefer to be cautious and a maximum attendeesin addition to establishing access measures; only those who have between 18 and 65 yearsthat they are totally vaccinated or immunized against the virus, and that they do not suffer chronic diseases.

Deadly accidents

With the constant reminder of the fatal accidents that have shaken the pilgrimage to Masjid al-Haram, also known as the Holy Mosque, security agents have installed a camera network surveillance to be attentive to any problem that may occur in the surroundings and access to the city. In this way, they want to ensure that a Hash is performed without incidents such as fires, deadly stampedes or riots.

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The annual pilgrimage to Mecca is a great source of income for him Government due to accommodation, transportation, taxes and gifts from the faithful. Official pre-pandemic data indicates that during the holidays, the country wins 12 billion dollars per year In 2019, 2.6 million of people performed the Hajj, while 19 million participated in the umrahanother form of pilgrimage to Mecca that can be done in any time of the year.

the ceremonies

On the first day of the festival, they gather in Miqat and they get rid of their clothes and put on the ihraam, a white robe. After this they circle around the kaabaa building located in the center of Mecca and the Islam’s holiest place. They consider it “the house of God”, the place where the divine and earthly worlds come together and they pray. During the following days, they go to the mount Arafat and to another site known as Muzdalifa, an open, flat area near Mecca where they continue to pray and look for the stones that they will use during the ceremonies of stoning of the pillars of the devil or also known as Jamrat al-‘Alqabah. Later, on the third day, Eid is celebrated. lamb sacrifice and the believers return to Mecca to circle the Kaaba once more. After these returns, the faithful go again from Mecca to Mina where they stay two or three nights and return to stone the pillars. To finish, they return to Mecca to make the last circumambulation, known as Tawaf, the goodbye. After this, the believers leave the state of Ihrām and it is customary for men to shave their heads and women to cut off a few small locks.