On Sunday, Muslim pilgrims surrounded Islam’s holiest people along paths socially away from the last ritual of hajj, the smallest in fashion history, as the Saudi government sought to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus.
Only up to 10,000 Muslims participated in hajj, of the 2.5 million who participated in the annual five-day pilgrimage last year.
Masked pilgrims threw stones at a wall symbolizing Satan in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, on the last day of the hajj, state media reported.
Instead of collecting the pebbles as in previous years, they put them back in bags and sterilized them through hajj authorities, opposing the new coronavirus.
Pilgrims returned to the Grand Mosque in Mecca later on Sunday to perform a final “tawaaf” or to surround the Kaaba, a cubic design to which Muslims around the world pray.
Performing the ritual in the shadow of the pandemic required “a double effort” by the Saudi authorities, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from the hospital after surgery on his gallbladder.
“This year’s hajj was limited to a very limited number of people of various nationalities, making sure the ritual ended despite the difficult circumstances,” said the 84-year-old kingdom leader.
The health government said no cases of coronavirus were reported at the sacred sites of Hajj.
Pilgrims, who were to practice social estrangement and subject to normal temperature controls, will enter mandatory quarantine after hajj, the government said.
The ritual, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for healthy Muslims at least once in their lives, is one of the world’s largest gatherings of devotees.
But local media reported that up to 10,000 people already living in the kingdom took part this year.
The Hajj’s ministry had said first that some 1,000 pilgrims would be allowed.
The Hajj regularly values pilgrims thousands of dollars, who save for years and go through long waiting lists to attend.
But this year, Saudi Arabia is responsible for the expenses of all pilgrims, offering them meals, hotel accommodation and physical care, the faithful said.
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