This year’s hajj, which has been scaled back dramatically to include only around 1,000 Muslim pilgrims due to the coronavirus pandemic, will begin on July 29, Saudi authorities said on Monday.
Abour 2.5 million people usually participate in the ritual of several days, centred on the holy city of Mecca.
“The stand of pilgrims on Mount Arafat, the peak of the hajj ritual, falls on Thursday,” the official Saudi Press Agency cited the Supreme Court as saying, indicating that Wednesday would be the first day of the annual event.
The timing of the hajj is determined by the position of the moon, in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar.
Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it would hold a “very limited” hajj, a decision fraught with political and economic peril as it battles a surge in coronavirus infections with some 253,349 cases so far including 2,523 deaths – the highest in the Gulf.
