Annual haj pilgrimage begins in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the lucky few amid social distancing

On Wednesday 1,000 Muslim pilgrims, down from the usual 2 million, begin a haj transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Handed single-use bottles of holy water and sterilised pebbles for the ritual stoning of the devil, they wear tracking bracelets and travel on half-empty buses

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Socially distanced pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand Mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca, on Friday during the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:45pm, 29 Jul 2020Updated: 7:12pm, 31 Jul 2020

Holy water will be consumed from single-use bottles. Pilgrims will get sterilised pebbles to throw at pillars symbolising the devil. And instead of jostling shoulder to shoulder, worshippers will circle Mecca’s grand mosque with 1.5 metres of space between them.

This year, Islam’s annual haj pilgrimage – which started on Wednesday – will be unlike any other.

Saudi Arabia has dramatically downsized the ritual because of the coronavirus pandemic, with authorities testing pilgrims and cutting their numbers from the usual 2 million to around 1,000. As a result, this year’s pilgrims will be among a lucky few, selected through an online vetting system open only to residents of the kingdom.

“It’s such beautiful moment for me,” said Faridah Binti Bakti Yahra, a 39-year-old Indonesian mother of three, who has lived in Saudi Arabia for a year-and-a-half and was so surprised by the call telling her she’d been chosen that she thought it was a scam. “I couldn’t believe it was true.”

This combination of pictures shows the few Muslim pilgrims praying on Mount Arafat, southeast of the holy city of Mecca, during the haj pilgrimage amid the Covid-19 pandemic this year, and a much larger number gathering on the mountain during the haj in 2018. Photo: AFP/HO/Saudi Ministry Of Media

Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, obligatory once in a lifetime for all who are able. Pilgrims often save money for years and apply repeatedly for a spot.