Saudi Arabia on Saturday welcomed its first batch of foreign Hajj pilgrims since before the Chinese coronavirus pandemic began, the news outlet Middle East Eye reported on Sunday, noting that the Islamic pilgrims hailed from Indonesia.
A fight from Indonesia carrying “358 female and male pilgrims” landed at Prince Mohamed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina on June 4, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
“The guests of Allah Almighty were greeted and offered rose bouquets, varieties of fine dates and holy Zamzam drinking water,” SPA detailed.
A delegation of government officials including the undersecretary for Saudi Arabia’s Hajj ministry, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Bijawe, and the Indonesian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdulaziz Ahmed, greeted the Indonesian pilgrims as they deplaned on Saturday.
“Today we received the first group of this year’s pilgrims from Indonesia, and the flights will continue from Malaysia and India,” Al-Bijawi told the state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel on June 4.
“Today we are happy to receive the guests of God from outside the kingdom, after a two-year interruption due to the pandemic,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s annual Hajj pilgrimage will take place this year from July 7 to July 12. The Indonesian pilgrims who arrived in Medina on Saturday were the first of several such batches from around the world that will land in Saudi Arabia over the next month in preparation for the event. The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that all Muslims must make once in their lifetime, granted the trip is financially and physically feasible. It is one of Islam’s five tenets, along with a profession of faith, prayer, alms, and fasting.
The Hajj is traditionally one of the largest religious gatherings globally. It is extremely lucrative for Saudi Arabia’s economy, generating an average of $12 billion for the Kingdom annually. The Saudi government closed the pilgrimage to all foreigners from 2020 t0 2021 citing public health concerns during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. The event went from drawing 2.5 million participants in 2019 to just 1,000 Saudi citizens and residents in 2020 after the Kingdom’s government severely tightened the ritual’s attendance cap.
“In 2021, the number was increased to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents chosen through a lottery,” Middle East Eye recalled on June 5.
Saudi Arabia’s government unveiled plans in April to allow one million pilgrims at this year’s Hajj, including foreigners.
Pilgrims applying for entry to this year’s Hajj must be 65 years old or younger and have a valid Saudi residency permit. The Kingdom’s Hajj ministry said that “priority will be given to those who have not previously performed Hajj and are fully immunized as per their status on the Tawakkalna app [Saudi health ministry app],” Arab News reported on June 4.
“To perform Hajj this year, citizens and residents are required to have received three doses of COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine,” the Riyadh-based newspaper noted.