Saudi Arabia To Allow One Million Hajj Pilgrims This Year
NDTV
The move, while falling short of reinstating normal hajj conditions, offered hopeful news for many Muslims outside the kingdom who have been barred from making the trip since 2019.
Saudi Arabia said Saturday it would permit one million Muslims from inside and outside the country to participate in this year's hajj, a sharp increase after pandemic restrictions forced two years of drastically pared-down pilgrimages.
The move, while falling short of reinstating normal hajj conditions, offered hopeful news for many Muslims outside the kingdom who have been barred from making the trip since 2019.
One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be undertaken by all Muslims who have the means at least once in their lives. Usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings, about 2.5 million people took part in 2019.
But after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Saudi authorities allowed only 1,000 pilgrims to take part.