Mecca, Saudi Arabia slowly walked away from a seven-month hibernation when pilgrims arrived after the Saudi government partially lifted the coronavirus’s ban on practicing Omra, a pilgrimage to Islam’s two holiest places at any time of the year.
Yesterday, a limited number of others put on the white sponge clothes symbolizing the Muslim pilgrimage and surrounded the holiest places of Islam in Mecca.
The kingdom had taken the rare step in early March to suspend the small pilgrimage of the “Omra”, which can be performed at any time of the year and attracts millions of people from all over the world, as coronavirus becomes a global pandemic and urges countries to impose closures and curfews to reduce transmission.
But as countries begin to ease restrictions, the Saudi government began allowing up to 6,000 pilgrims a day to enter the huge Grand Mosque in Mecca. Only Saudi citizens will be able to enter the mosque during this first reopening phase, and each user has up to 3 hours to complete the pilgrimage.
The Grand Mosque, which is sterilized and cleaned several times a day, houses the cube-shaped Kaaba to which practicing Muslims pray five times a day.
Before visitors can enter the mosque to pray or perform the Umra, they must electronically request and book an express date and time through an online app to avoid overcrowding and maintain social distance. Visitors can also choose their shipping methods and meeting problems. through the app.
State television showed what gave the impression of being less than 50 other people circling around the Kaaba at the same time and walking several meters away. As a general rule, the mosque was full of faithful from all over the world crowded from appearance to appearance at all hours of the day. day and night.
The moment phase of easing restrictions on the Grand Mosque takes effect on 18 October, allowing a maximum of 15,000 pilgrims and 40,000 for prayer between citizens depending on the hours assigned to the application.
Muslim travelers from outside Saudi Arabia may be able to make the pilgrimage to Omra from 1 November, the Ministry of the Interior said. Saudi Arabia recently began to ease some restrictions on foreign flights for the first time since March.
The kingdom organized a very small Hajj symbolic pilgrimage in July, fearing that it would not be a global opportunity to super-spread the virus. Pilgrims decided after applying through an online portal and were all citizens of Saudi Arabia. the more than 2 million pilgrims the kingdom hosts for the annual occasion, only 1000 participated after being examined for the virus and quarantined.
Despite the first radical measures to involve the virus, Saudi Arabia has recorded nearly 336,000 cases, totaling 4,850 deaths.
The devoted pilgrimage generates $12 billion in a source of income for housing, transportation, gifts, food and expenses for the faithful, according to official data.
The country hosted a very small hajj last July for the first time in fashion history, with a few thousand national pilgrims from the same old white-clad sea of some 3 million Muslims.
Near the Grand Mosque, hotels in high-rise towers used to be empty and grocery shopping malls closed hours before the Umra resumed. Dozens of department stores and restaurants were closed.
Economists estimate that Mecca’s hotel sector may lose at least 40% of the profits generated through pilgrimages this year.
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