Saudi Arabia receives 1.2 million pilgrims for Hajj

Saudi Arabia said around 1.2 million Muslim pilgrims have arrived in the kingdom for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

“About 1.2 million worshipers were received at the Two Holy Mosques,” Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudais, head of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, said in statements cited by state news agency SPA.

“This is the largest number of worshipers in Saudi Arabia since the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

Saudi Arabia expects to receive more than two million Muslim pilgrims for Hajj this year.

The oil-rich kingdom held downsized Hajj in the last three years due to restrictions imposed to stem the outbreak of COVID-19.

In 2022, over 899,999 Muslim pilgrims visited Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, according to official figures.

In 2021, the kingdom welcomed up to 60,000 pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia amid COVID-19 restrictions, while only 10,000 performed the ritual in 2020.

The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site Kaaba in Mecca, is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims are required to perform it at least once in their life if they have the means to do so.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi