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Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims began to flock from the holy city of Mecca towards Mina on Thursday to spend the day of Tarwiyah, on the second day of the largest pilgrimage season since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Located in a valley surrounded by rocky mountains, about seven kilometers from the Grand Mosque, Mina turns every year into a vast camp for pilgrims.
At the height of the Hajj, the worshipers will head on Friday to Mount Arafat, where they will spend the day praying and praying under the sun, before moving to the stoning site, and then to the Grand Mosque to perform the farewell circumambulation.
And the pilgrims performed the “tawaf of coming” around the Kaaba under the scorching sun, Wednesday, after the Saudi authorities allowed one million Muslims who had received anti-Coronavirus vaccines, to perform the ritual, including 850,000 who came from abroad.
These rites are held under strict security measures, including police checkpoints in parts of Mecca.
The commander of the Air Force Group participating in this year’s Hajj mission, Colonel Pilot Khaled bin Abdullah Al-Mutairi, told the Saudi Press Agency that the Air Force “is working to support public security with a number of helicopters equipped with the latest technologies around the clock.”
photo released, AFP
In the Grand Mosque, this week many women, including from Arab countries, performed the first Hajj rituals on their own.
This year, the event is restricted to Muslims under the age of 65 who have been vaccinated against the virus.
photo released, AFP
The participants in this year’s Hajj were chosen by lottery among the millions of applicants. These rituals are much larger than the previous two seasons in 2020 and 2021 but still smaller than normal times.
In 2019, about 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world participated in the annual Hajj.
But then, the outbreak of the Corona virus forced the Saudi authorities to reduce the number of pilgrims, as 60 thousand citizens and residents in the Kingdom participated and received full vaccinations in 2021, compared to a few thousand in 2020.
photo released, CHRISTINA ASSI / AFP
Thursday pilgrims move to Mina, about five kilometers from the Grand Mosque, before the main ritual, which is the ascent of Mount Arafat.
The authorities set up many health facilities, mobile clinics, and equipped ambulances to meet the needs of pilgrims.
Police set up checkpoints and patrols on foot, while they carry green umbrellas to protect against the scorching sun.
photo released, AFP
Inside the Grand Mosque, paramedics were on standby in various locations, while volunteers pulling wheelchairs waited in a long line to help those who cannot walk long distances.
The pilgrimage is usually a major source of income for the kingdom. Revenues from rituals, Umrah and other religious visits throughout the year are estimated at about $12 billion annually.
Some pilgrims put the names and flags of their countries on their clothes. It is noted that he promised a five-year estrangement and a global epidemic that prevented them from performing the pilgrimage, the Qatari pilgrims return to Mecca Al-Mukarramah this year after turning the page of the diplomatic dispute.
photo released, AFP
Worshipers in white Ihram garments and women, some of them wearing colorful cloaks, walked side by side on the white floors near the Kaaba.
“I just prayed for you,” said one of them, dressed in a green abaya, as she joined her family on a live video call on her mobile phone.
photo released, DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP
“Being here is the best thing that ever happened to me. I feel like I’m looking forward to more. But my only problem is the weather, it’s very hot,” while the temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius, 42-year-old Egyptian Hajja Naima Mohsen told AFP.