From 2 million to 1,000

Striking photos show socially-distanced Hajj
By Tamara Qiblawi, Jomana Karadsheh and Mostafa Salem, CNN

Normally, over 2 million pilgrims attend the Hajj. This year only around 1,000 worshipers are at the annual pilgrimage after Saudi authorities imposed strict crowd control and hygiene measures because of fears of the pandemic.

Muslim worshipers observed the first rituals of an historic Hajj on Wednesday, with around 1,000 pilgrims adhering to "safety bubbles" and social distancing measures over fears of the coronavirus.

While the Hajj typically features large crowds crammed around Islam's holiest shrine, this year's annual pilgrimage has seen worshipers circumambulating the Kaaba along concentric circles marked on the ground. Several feet separated the mask-clad pilgrims who walked at a measured pace.

The Tawaf Al-Qudum, a group rite of passage in the holy city of Mecca, was unlike anything that Muslims watching the processions on their TV screens had ever seen. On average, over two million pilgrims attend the Hajj, which is considered one of the five pillars of Islam.
International pilgrims have been barred from this year's Hajj. Those selected to attend are foreign residents of Saudi Arabia and Saudi nationals between the ages of 20 and 50.

"We are trying to apply the concept of safety bubbles, where every pilgrim will have an environment around him or her that are free and safe as much as possible from any kind of hazards, so all that is needed by the Hajjis is their personal protective equipment their hygiene products are provided free of charge," Assistant Deputy Minister for Preventative Health at the Saudi Ministry of Health, Dr. Abdullah Assiri told CNN in an interview on Wednesday.

At the Grand Mosque, gaps separated worshipers' prayer mats, whereas the ritual is normally performed shoulder to shoulder with other believers. All of these pilgrims have already gone through a rigorous quarantine and health screening process, according to Saudi authorities.

"There are some rituals of Hajj that we cannot really separate [the pilgrims] because they have to be in one place at one time, so we had to prepare these places in a way that maintains social distancing and also to make available the personal protective equipment for these places," Dr. Assiri said.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/29/middleeast/hajj-coronavirus-social-distancing-intl/index.html


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhquwR3pwM

More photos

The new world order.

No one saw it coming...

GOD REMAIN THE GREATEST！！

if by last year someone had forseen this,no one would had believed lai lai！,here we are right now. REALITY

Them get mind

MejiLoyon:
Them get mind

At least they are trying to be as safe as possible.

Let's see what we'll get in Naija �� on Friday

kingvick09:
GOD REMAIN THE GREATEST！！

Allahu Akbar

gasparpisciotta:
The new world order.

A virus of historic proportion

Awusubilai

Aah..

Lol the thing go soon turn Admission list wey people go dey runz to gt slot

Allahu Akbar. May Allah accept their Hajj.

New normal indeed, but let's wait and see how 9ja will portray social distancing on Friday @ the praying ground

May Allah accept all our ibadah, amin

fraymite:
Allahu Akbar. May Allah accept their Hajj.

Amin thumma amin

Masha Allah. Things are really getting out of hands. All the same Allahh akbar

We shall conquer coronavirus Insha Allah

Renerd:
Their p.

But why are nairaland mods bigotic, so to comment in a Muslim thread, I had to take an oath, lol.
.

Because of the entrenched hatred and intolerance of other Nairalanders the Muslim threads have to be protected . But you can see the extent of the hostility. These evil persons swear an oath that they are Muslims, just to get the chance to insult Islam.

Masha Allah

Ya sallam
May Allah accept thier ibadat and may he provide us the means to partake in this noble activity ameen

archdon:

Allahu Akbar

please don't throw bomb yet!

SWORD419:
Ya sallam
May Allah accept thier ibadat and may he provide us the means to partake in this noble activity ameen

Ameen

yesloaded:
We shall conquer coronavirus Insha Allah

Ameen

Amopeekun:
May Allah accept all our ibadah, amin

Ameen

fraymite:
Allahu Akbar. May Allah accept their Hajj.

Ameen

gasparpisciotta:
The new world order.

No one saw it coming...

You've been watching too much apocalypse movies, there has always been global pandemics since time immemorial. We are just understanding diseases better now.

May Allah subuhana watahala accept it as an act of ibadah, And forgive us all our sins.Eid Mubarak to all Muslim faithfuls.May we witness more of it insha Allah.