ISTANBUL
Saudi Arabia about 1. 2 million Muslim pilgrims had arrived in the kingdom for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
“About 1. 2 million worshippers were won in the two holy mosques,” Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudais, head of the presidency for the affairs of the two holy mosques, was quoted as saying by the official SPA news agency.
“This is the number of worshippers in Saudi Arabia since the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Saudi Arabia expects more than two million Muslim pilgrims for the Hajj this year.
The oil-rich kingdom has reduced the number of Hajj workers over the past three years due to restrictions imposed to stop the COVID-19 outbreak.
In 2022, more than 899,999 Muslim pilgrims traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, according to official figures.
In 2021, the kingdom received up to 60,000 pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia under COVID-19 restrictions, while 10,000 performed the ritual in 2020.
The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba in Mecca, is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims are required to do it at least once in a lifetime if they have the opportunity to do so.
*Written through Ikram Kouachi