Muslim pilgrims flock from Mecca to the climax of the Hajj

Hundreds of thousands of Hajj pilgrims poured out of Mecca on Thursday ahead of the culmination of the annual rites, which have drawn large crowds despite the ongoing pandemic and unrelenting heat.

Many of the robed devotees made their way on foot to Mina, seven kilometers from the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, where they circumambulated the imposing black Kaaba as the rituals began on Wednesday.

The crowd, which is limited to one million including 850,000 from abroad selected by lottery, is the largest at the Hajj since 2019 after two Covid-hit years during which only tens of thousands were allowed to attend.

All believers are fully vaccinated and have submitted negative PCR tests, but the rituals come amid a Covid-19 resurgence in the region, with some Gulf states tightening restrictions to keep outbreaks at bay.

Dressed in simple robes, pilgrims spend the night in air-conditioned white tents in Mina, which lies in a narrow valley surrounded by rocky mountains and is transformed into a huge camp every year.

The highlight of the Hajj is on Friday: climbing Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is said to have delivered his last sermon.

Believers will pray and recite the Qur’an on the mountain for several hours and sleep nearby.

On Saturday they collect pebbles and perform the symbolic “Stoning of the Devil”.

Many pilgrims held umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun as temperatures soared to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.

Four hospitals and 26 health centers have been set up in Mina.

Normally one of the largest annual religious gatherings in the world, the Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lifetime.

In 2019, around 2.5 million Muslims from around the world attended the Hajj, which poses a significant security challenge and has seen several disasters over the years, including a stampede in 2015 that killed up to 2,300 people .

The rituals are conducted under tight security measures that include police checks in parts of Mecca. In 1979, gunmen barricaded themselves inside the Grand Mosque in an attack that claimed 153 lives, according to official figures.

The commander of the air force group participating in this hajj season, pilot colonel Khaled bin Abdullah Al-Mutairi, told state media on Wednesday that military helicopters are deployed “around the clock… in support of public security.”

Overseas pilgrims, barred from Hajj in 2020 and 2021 to prevent Covid infections, are returning to the mountainous region this year to fill their hotel rooms and visit their shops as business owners hope to recoup huge losses.

Since the pandemic began, Saudi Arabia has registered more than 795,000 coronavirus cases, with more than 9,000 fatal. About 67 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country of over 34 million people.

The Hajj Ministry has stated that it is working at the highest level in the face of the pandemic and the emergence of new varieties of health care measures. However, a mask requirement was largely ignored.