As part of the curbs,
Saudi officials said that no one over the age of 65 would be allowed to
perform the hajj
|
Dubai(Agencies): A
Saudi official said on Tuesday that the hajj pilgrimage, which usually drew up
to 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world, would only see at the most a
few thousand pilgrims next month due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
The kingdom’s Hajj Minister,
Muhammad Benten, said a “small and very limited” number of people — even as low
as just 1,000 from inside the kingdom — would be allowed to perform the
pilgrimage to ensure social distancing and crowd control amid the global virus
outbreak.
“The number, God willing, may be in the
thousands. We are in the process of reviewing so it could be 1,000 or less, or
a little more,” Benten said in a virtual press conference.
While the decision to drastically
curb this year’s hajj was largely expected, it remains unprecedented in Saudi
Arabia’s nearly 90-year history and effectively bars all Muslims from outside
the kingdom from travelling there to performing the pilgrimage.
The Saudi government waited until
just five weeks before the hajj to announce its decision. The timing indicates
the sensitivity around major decisions concerning the hajj that affect Muslims
around the world.
“This is a very sensitive operation and we are
working with experts at the Health Ministry,” Benten said, stressing the
importance of protecting the lives and health of pilgrims.
As part of the curbs, Saudi
officials said that no one over the age of 65 would be allowed to perform the
hajj and that all pilgrims and those serving the pilgrims this year would be
quarantined both before and after the pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia first announced late
on Monday that only a very limited number of pilgrims would be allowed to
perform the hajj in Mecca from among residents of various nationalities already
inside the kingdom.
It’s a blow to those who’ve saved
money for years to afford the journey — the hajj is not only a
once-in-a-lifetime requirement for all Muslims but also a chance to wipe away
past sins and connect with Muslims from all walks of life.
“It is a wish of every Muslim to perform hajj,
but because of COVID-19, it will not be possible this year,” the chairman of
the Islamic Centre of India, Maulana Khalid Rashid, said.
Rashid said China was ultimately
responsible.
“Had China told the world about COVID
beforehand, the world would have reacted differently,” he said, adding that a delegation
from India should be allowed to go and perform the hajj.
“This is an annual ritual and the tradition
should not be broken,” he said.
The hajj typically draws 2
million people from around the world, with the rest coming from inside Saudi
Arabia. It’s a profound experience, with the faithful standing
should-to-shoulder in prayer, often weeping, their palms stretched toward the
sky for five intense days of worship around Mecca.
Each country is allocated a
specific quota of hajj visas according to its population of Muslims, with
Indonesia having the largest, close to 2,21,000.
In countries like Egypt, Pakistan
and India, securing a slot can require hefty fees, a connection to a local
official or simply years of patience.
Pakistan, which usually sends
around 180,000 pilgrims, said Saudi authorities had been in touch to inform
them about the decision to limit this year’s hajj. Instead, Pakistani diplomats
already in Saudi Arabia will represent the country this year at the hajj, which
begins at the end of July.
The president of an association
of hajj tour operators in Bangladesh, Shahadat Hossain Taslim, praised the
decision to essentially hold the hajj with just symbolic numbers of pilgrims.
“It has a great symbolic value,” he said.
Around 1,37,000 Bangladeshis typically travel to Mecca each year for the hajj.
“We are going to lose business worth millions
of dollars, but we have nothing to do. The situation is not in our hands,”
Taslim added.
Saudi Arabia’s borders have been
shut to foreigners since late February in attempts to slow down the spread of
the virus. The government suspended the smaller year-round umrah pilgrimage
earlier this year, imposed a nearly three-month-long 24-hour curfew in Mecca,
shuttered mosques during the holy month of Ramadan and restricted businesses.
Still, the kingdom has one of the
highest infection rates in the Middle East, with more than 161,000 confirmed
cases so far, including 1,307 deaths.
The virus causes mild to moderate
symptoms in most people, who recover within a few weeks. But it is highly
contagious and can cause severe illness or death, particularly in older
patients or those with underlying health problems.
Saudi Arabia said the decision to
curtail the hajj was aimed at preserving global public health because of the
risks associated with large gatherings. It defended its decision on religious
grounds as well, saying that the teachings of Islam require the preservation of
human life.
In Afghanistan, retired army
colonel Mahmood Seddiqi said Muslims who cannot go to Saudi Arabia this year
should donate the money they would have spent on the pilgrimage to help those
who are hardest-hit by the pandemic and its economic impact.
The kingdom has faced smaller
epidemics like the MERS virus and had taken precautions by barring pilgrims
from African countries stricken by the Ebola virus in recent years.
There have been major disruptions
during the hajj in past years, including a deadly stampede and a crane collapse
in 2015 that killed more than 2,500 people. In 1987, Saudi security forces
killed over 400 people, mostly Shia Muslims, in a clash sparked by Iranian
pilgrims protesting during the hajj.
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