A major spiritual event for millions of Muslims, the hajj was able to begin this Sunday, June 25 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This year, for the first time in three years, the limit on the number of pilgrims introduced during the health crisis has been lifted. Hundreds of thousands of people are therefore already there, according to AFP. In total, more than 2 million faithful from 160 countries are expected in the sacred city to perform this pilgrimage, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
A crucial step for any practicing Muslim who has the means to perform it, the hajj consists of a series of rituals to be performed in the holy city and its surroundings. On Saturday, pilgrims began the tawaf – a series of processions – around the Kaaba, a cubic-shaped sacred building covered in black silk, located near the center of Mecca’s Grand Mosque. It is to the Kaaba, built in the 7th century, that Muslims around the world turn to perform their daily prayers.
At a cost of 5,000 dollars per person, the pilgrimage brought in each year before the pandemic several billion dollars a year to Saudi Arabia. A major challenge for the Middle Eastern country whose influence has regularly been tainted by its relationship to respect for human rights, and which the rise in temperatures – locally approaching 45 degrees Celsius – has transformed into a challenge in recent years. A reinforced emergency system is therefore planned inside the Great Mosque to ensure the good health and safety of pilgrims.
