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New Delhi:
In years earlier than the coronavirus, tens of millions of pilgrims from throughout the globe would flock to Islam’s holiest website to attend hajj, one of many world’s largest non secular gatherings. However, with a virus-induced ban on massive gatherings in place, just a few thousand folks attended the rituals of this yr’s scaled-down hajj pilgrimage.
Striking footage confirmed a number of toes separated white-clad worshippers circumambulating the Kaaba, the holiest shrine within the grand mosque within the holy Saudi metropolis of Mecca. Presenting a pointy distinction to the earlier years’ huge crowds crammed across the shrine, this yr’s hajj pictures confirmed mask-wearing pilgrims strolling at a measured tempo, holding umbrellas to protect themselves from Saudi Arabia’s blistering solar.
Only as much as 10,000 folks already residing within the kingdom are collaborating on this yr’s pilgrimage, in contrast with 2019’s gathering of some 2.5 million from world wide, reported information company AFP.
“Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic… required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts,” 84-year-old King Salman mentioned in a speech learn out on state tv by performing media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.
Unlike previous years after they lunged in direction of the Kaaba, this yr, pilgrims weren’t allowed to the touch the plain stone dice constructing lined in black material and wrapped in Arabic writing in golden silk.
The hajj, which started on Wednesday, is among the 5 pillars of Islam and a should for able-bodied Muslims a minimum of as soon as of their lifetime.
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