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Umrah, the anytime pilgrimage, generally attracts millions of Muslims from around the world each year, but was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
FILE: A photo taken on July 29, 2020 shows pilgrims circling the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, in the center of the Great Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, at the start of the Muslim pilgrimage. annual Hajj. Image: AFP
MECCA – Masked Muslims surrounded Islam’s holiest site along socially distanced roads on Sunday as Saudi authorities partially resumed the year-round umrah pilgrimage amid extensive health precautions after a hiatus from seven months for coronavirus.
Thousands of worshipers entered the Great Mosque of the holy city of Mecca in groups to perform the ritual of encircling the holy Kaaba, a cubic structure that Muslims around the world pray towards.
Umrah, the anytime pilgrimage, generally attracts millions of Muslims from around the world each year, but was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be revived in three phases, and Saudi Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten said last week that 6,000 pilgrims per day in the first stage will be allowed to perform umrah “meticulously and within a specified period of time.”
A number of precautions have been taken to avoid any outbreak during umrah, according to state media.
The revered Black Stone in the eastern corner of the Kaaba, which is customary but not mandatory to touch during the pilgrimage, will be out of reach, while the Great Mosque will be sterilized before and after each group of worshipers.
Each group of 20 or 25 pilgrims will be accompanied by a health worker and medical teams will be on the ground in case of emergency, Benten said.
In the second stage starting on October 18, the number of umrah pilgrims will increase to 15,000 per day, with a maximum of 40,000 people, including pilgrims and other worshipers, allowed to perform prayers in the mosque.
Visitors from abroad will be able to access the third stage from November 1, when the capacity will rise to 20,000 and 60,000, respectively.
The decision to resume the pilgrimage was in response to the “aspirations of Muslim nationals and foreigners” to perform the ritual and visit the holy sites, the Interior Ministry said last month.
He added that umrah would be allowed to return to full capacity once the threat of the pandemic has subsided.
Until then, the Ministry of Health will examine the countries from which pilgrims are allowed to enter based on health risks.
Saudi Arabia suspended umrah in March and cut the annual hajj out of fear the coronavirus could spread to Islam’s holiest cities.
The hajj took place in late July, on the smallest scale in modern history, with only up to 10,000 Muslims allowed to participate, a far cry from the 2.5 million who participated last year.
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