While Hajj generally features large crowds crowded around Islam’s holiest shrine, this year’s annual pilgrimage has seen worshipers circle the Kaaba along marked concentric circles on the ground. Several feet separated the pilgrims dressed in masks who walked at a moderate pace.
The Tawaf Al-Qudum, a group initiation rite in the holy city of Mecca, was unlike anything the Muslims who saw the processions on their television screens had seen. On average, more than two million pilgrims attend Hajj, which is considered one of the five pillars of Islam.
International pilgrims have been excluded from Hajj this year. Those selected to attend are foreign residents of Saudi Arabia and Saudi citizens between the ages of 20 and 50.
“We are trying to apply the concept of security bubbles, where each pilgrim will have an environment around him that is as free and safe as possible from any type of danger, so all Hajjis need is their personal protection” Deputy Deputy Minister for Preventive Health of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health, Dr. Abdullah Assiri, told CNN in an interview on Wednesday.
In the Grand Mosque, the gaps separated the prayer mats from the faithful, while the ritual is normally performed shoulder to shoulder with other believers. All of these pilgrims have already gone through a rigorous quarantine and health assessment process, according to Saudi authorities.
“There are some Hajj rituals that we really can’t separate [the pilgrims] because they have to be in one place at a time, so we had to prepare these places in a way that maintains social distance and also make personal protective equipment available for these places, “said Dr. Assiri.
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