Thousands of pilgrims arrived in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Friday, including about a million Muslims expected to attend the 2022 haj pilgrimage season after two years of being disrupted by the Covid pandemic were.
Wrapped in white robes, some carrying umbrellas against the scorching desert sun, hundreds performed the first ritual of the Hajj, walking in a circle around the Kaaba, the sacred building at the center of Mecca’s Grand Mosque.
“Praise be to God… It is impossible to describe my feelings at the moment,” said Ahmed Sayed Mahmoud, an Egyptian pilgrim. “Being in the Grand Mosque and the Land of the Two Holy Mosques makes me very happy.”
1 in 2 Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba and pray at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca pictured July 1 — Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba and pray at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on July 1 (Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, allowed foreign travelers to return for the Hajj this year. Just a few thousand Saudi citizens and residents have taken part in the annual pilgrimage over the past two years as Covid19 has battered the global economy and restricted travel.
2 of 2 A Muslim pilgrim weeps next to the Ibrahim Station in the holy city of Mecca — Photo: Reuters/Mohammed Salem
A Muslim pilgrim cries next to the Ibrahim Station in the holy city of Mecca (Photo: Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
But officials said only 1 million people will be able to take part in the 2022 season, less than half of prepandemic levels, and access is limited to pilgrims aged 18 to 65 who have and have not been fully vaccinated against the virus suffer from chronic diseases.
Security officials mingle with the pilgrims in the mosque. A network of surveillance cameras monitors the area and checkpoints control access to the city to ensure an accidentfree Hajj, after it has been marred by riots and fires in the past.