coronavirus

Saudi Arabia: Hajj 2020 to be held with limited number of pilgrims

  • Decision taken due to the ongoing threat from the coronavirus pandemic
  • Pilgrims will come from various nationalities who already reside in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: Hajj will go ahead next month but with a “very limited” number of pilgrims allowed to take part, Saudi Arabia said on Monday.

The decision was taken due to the ongoing threat from the coronavirus pandemic and to preserve “global public health,” the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said.

Pilgrims taking part will be from various nationalities who already reside in Saudi Arabia.

About 2.5 million pilgrims performed Hajj last year but the ongoing scale and spread of COVID-19 worldwide means people will not be able to travel to the Kingdom to take part. 

The ministry said the decision had been made “in light of continuation of the pandemic and the risks of Coronavirus spreading in crowded spaces and large gatherings.”

The statement said: “A very limited number of pilgrims from various nationalities who already reside in Saudi Arabia, would be able to perform it.

“This decision is taken to ensure Hajj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective while observing all preventative measures and the necessary social distancing protocols.” 

Last year, more than 1.8 million pilgrims traveled to Saudi Arabia from abroad to take part. The Hajj ministry said this year the risk of transmitting the disease between countries and the increase in infections globally meant the risk was too high.

The ministry said Saudi Arabia’s top priority is to always enable Muslim pilgrims can  perform Hajj and Umrah safely and securely.

The Council of Senior Scholars said on Monday it supported what the Kingdom’s decision to limit the number of pilgrims in order to preserve their health and safety.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Minister of Awqaf, Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, said that in light of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, his country also supports the Kingdom’s decision to limit the number of pilgrims, based on nationalities as well.

Post Disclaimer | Support Us

Support Us

The sailanmuslim.com web site  entirely supported by individual donors and well wishers. If you regularly visit this site and wish to show your appreciation, or if you wish to see further development of sailanmuslim.com, please donate us

IMPORTANT : All content hosted on sailanmuslim.com is solely for non-commercial purposes and with the permission of original copyright holders. Any other use of the hosted content, such as for financial gain, requires express approval from the copyright owners.

Sailan Muslim

Our purpose is to secure and promote the legitimate interests of the Sri Lankan Muslims, considering as legitimate only those Muslim interests that are consistent with the national interest. It is apolitical and non profit making effort. The other reason is that Muslim politicians have been marginalized to a serious extent over many decades, and cannot therefore fully represent Muslim interests. An effective Muslim website can be useful in bringing about this change. Our aim is to unite our community to speak with one voice and to promote an understanding and interactive dialogue with other communities. We are dedicated to make this website a success with the objective of promoting truth, justice and harmony among all citizens of Sri Lanka with unbiased, accurate, truthful and balanced information. More @ About Us Disclaimer The entire content of this website (sailanmuslim.com) is for information purposes only. Individual comments, news, Articles and stories are based upon the opinions of the respective authors, who retain copyright as marked. The information on this website is intended as a sharing of knowledge and Information only. Sailan Muslim Foundation.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button

Discover more from Sri lanka Muslims Web Portal

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading