A. SAUDI – IRAN – ISLAM Hajj, Riyadh aspires to the record: expects more than 2.5 million pilgrims in Mecca

Once the measures to contain the Covid-19 have already been overcome, the Saudi authorities speak of an edition with higher figures than before the pandemic. Religious tourism and pilgrimages will enter at least 12,000 million dollars into the coffers of the Wahhabi kingdom. The climate of détente with Tehran favors the return of the Iranian faithful. More than 32,000 health agents ready to intervene in an emergency.

Riyadh () – A “record” pilgrimage, with figures even higher than those of the years before the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions that characterized the latest editions. Under these auspices, Hajj began yesterday, the great pilgrimage to Mecca, the most important sacred place in Islam and which, according to the Saudi authorities, in 2023 will register “the largest” influx of faithful “in history”, exceeding 2 .5 million of the maximum reached so far. In 2020, against the backdrop of a global coronavirus lockdown and lockdown, Riyadh had limited the event to a few thousand citizens and local residents. In contrast, last year the vaccination of the participants was required. This is the first year that it has been held again at full capacity and without particular restrictions, for an event that ends with the festival of Eid al-Adha (of sacrifice), when Muslims slaughter cattle and distribute the meat to the poor.

Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca represent a major source of income for Saudi Arabia, which under Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) has embarked on an ambitious reform program to rid the economy of oil revenues. The flow of tourists and faithful to the holy places of Islam guarantees income of more than 12,000 million dollars each year, for an event that, in addition to the religious element, has a profound value from the economic and political point of view.

The rituals associated with Hajj began yesterday and will end between the night of June 30 and July 1, when the new moon of the month of Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth and last month of the Islamic calendar, will be seen. This year, one of the main challenges will be the weather, with days when the temperature is expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius or more, which will add to the record number of pilgrims and create the conditions for critical moments in terms of health and public order. For this reason, Riyadh has allocated more than 32,000 nurses and doctors, and thousands of ambulances distributed at strategic points in the city and along the route of the faithful to treat any case of heat stroke, dehydration and fatigue, which are not at all rare.

“I am living the best days of my life,” he confided to AFP Abdelazim, a 65-year-old Egyptian who has been saving money for 20 years to reach the 6,000 dollars needed to make the great pilgrimage to Mecca. Yesterday afternoon, the faithful began the journey to Mina, some 8 km from the Great Mosque of Mecca, before meeting on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon.

Finally, the 2023 edition is characterized by the climate of détente and the resumption of diplomatic relations between the Saudis (references of Sunni Islam in the world) and Iran, with a Shiite majority, while guaranteeing an improvement in services for the pilgrims. Sayid Mahdi, responsible for the approximately 2,800 faithful that the Islamic Republic expects, confirmed the climate of greater “cooperation” with the Riyadh authorities in finding accommodation and organizing logistics. Mohammed Hossaini, one of the Iranian participants in Hajj, has now been in Saudi territory for four days to celebrate Hajj and Umrah (the minor pilgrimage) in one trip. “I am very happy,” he said, “that the relations between the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia are improving….. This will also improve the journey of Muslims to the house of God.”

The major pilgrimage (Hajj) is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, and every Muslim is obliged to perform it at least once in their life. In the past it was used by Riyadh as a political weapon, denying entry visas and participation to Iranian (Shia) or Syrian worshipers because of the war. It was also the scene of incidents or attacks, leaving thousands dead as a result: in 2015, a stampede among the crowd claimed at least 2,300 lives; in 2006, more than 360 pilgrims died during the stoning ritual, in which pilgrims throw stones and pebbles at three tombstones symbolizing rejection of Satan; In 1989, a double attack in front of the Grand Mosque caused one fatality and 16 injuries, and 16 Kuwaiti citizens were executed as a result of the attack.