More than two million Muslims begin Friday's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The authorities warn against any attempt to politicize this religious gathering against the background of persistent tensions in the Gulf.
Logistics challenge
Managing the uninterrupted flow of pilgrims and ensuring their safety during Hajj, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, represents a huge logistical challenge for the Saudi kingdom. Tens of thousands of members of the police force are mobilized to avoid any new tragedy during the pilgrimage, bereaved in the past by bloody jostling, the most deadly one having done in 2015 nearly 2,300 dead during the ritual of the stoning of Satan. In all, some 2.5 million people, foreign or living in Saudi Arabia, are expected to perform Hajj this year, according to local newspapers.
"All state institutions are mobilized" and "we are proud to serve the 'hosts of God'," spokesman Bassam Attia told reporters. According to a Hajj ministry official, Hatem bin Hassan Qadi, "more than 1.8 million visas have been issued online, without going through the consulates.
"You have to live it to understand"
From all over the world, streams of worshipers flocked to Mecca in western Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that every Muslim is expected to perform at least once in his life. life if he has the means. "One feels purified by accomplishing the hajj, a pillar of Islam, and we meet people from all over the world, it's great," exclaims Mohamed Jaafar, a 40-year-old Egyptian. "It's an indescribable feeling, you have to live it to understand," murmurs a Algerian woman in her 50s who is doing hajj for the first time. "This is a golden opportunity," says a woman who accompanies him.
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Built on a desert valley and forbidden to non-Muslims, Mecca is home to the Kaaba, a cubic structure draped in a black cloth embroidered with gold, in the heart of the Great Mosque. It is to her that Muslims around the world turn during their five daily prayers. Pilgrims must perform seven laps of the Kaaba. The hajj is a set of codified rites that take place in the heart of the holy city of Islam and its surroundings.
Prayer, ascension and ritual
This Friday, the pilgrims will attend the weekly prayer in the Great Mosque. The processions of men and women will then flow to Mina near Mecca, on foot or on buses made available by the authorities. Mina, a narrow valley dominated by rocky mountains, is transformed every season from hajj into a huge camp of white tents to shelter the pilgrims. Some "350,000 air-conditioned tents have been erected," said a Saudi official.
On Saturday, the faithful will begin the ascent of Mount Arafat, also called the Mount of Mercy, to pray and to recover before returning to Mina for the ritual stoning of Satan. This ritual marks the beginning of Eid Al-Adha or the feast of sacrifice celebrated on Sunday. Pilgrims must go to the Great Mosque for the last time for a "farewell ride" to the Kaaba.
Geopolitical tensions
The hajj is taking place this year against a backdrop of intense tensions in the Gulf, marked in May and June by a series of attacks against tankers, a drone shot down and tankers boarded. Iran's rival, Saudi Arabia and its US ally accuse Tehran, who denies, of being behind the attacks. According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, some 88,550 Iranians are participating in the hajj this year, despite the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Ryad and Tehran.
As every year, the Saudi authorities warn against any attempt to politicize the hajj. Saudi Arabia and neighboring Qatar broke off diplomatic relations in 2017 and the crisis has resulted in a restriction of Qatari citizens' movements to the kingdom. Ryad says the crisis is not about hajj. However, "very few Qataris have arrived in Mecca for the pilgrimage," said the official at the Saudi Ministry of Hajj. The ministry accused the "Qatari regime of politicizing the hajj and putting obstacles in front of the pilgrims of Qatar".