Umrah Pilgrims return to Mecca as Saudi eases coronavirus restrictions

By aya salah On Oct 4, 2020

Saudi Arabia hajj — A small group of worshippers pray at Kaaba in the Grand Mosque while practicing social distancing, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy month of Ramadan, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia May 4, 2020. (Photo Credit: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS)

Mecca slowly eases restrictions of a seven-month coronavirus lockdown on Sunday as pilgrims trickled in after Saudi Arabian authorities allow performing umrah – a pilgrimage to Islam’s two holiest sites that is undertaken at any time of year.

Millions of Muslims from around the world usually descend on Saudi Arabia for the umrah and haj Islamic pilgrimages. The two share common rites, but the haj, held once a year, is the main lengthier ritual that is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for Muslims.

Saudi Arabia, which held a largely symbolic haj earlier this year limited to domestic worshippers, has allowed citizens and residents to start performing umrah as of Sunday at 30% capacity, or 6,000 pilgrims a day. It will open for Muslims from abroad starting Nov. 1.

Last year the Gulf state drew 19 million umrah visitors.

Mecca Umrah