In the midst of torrential rain and a severe crackdown on illegal visitors, more than a million Muslim travelers poured into Mecca ahead of the monthly worship, with authorities vowing to make the trip safer. Officials have put in more heat-protection measures to prevent a repeat of the last year’s hajj, when 1, 301 pilgrims died as the temperature reached 51.8 degrees Celsius ( 124.2 % ). As one of the largest quarterly religious meetings in the world begins on Wednesday, temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees celcius this year. One of the five pillars of Islam, the pilgrimage, may be performed by every Muslim with the means at least once. More than 1.3 million travelers had arrived in Saudi Arabia for the multi-day journey as of Friday, according to authorities. Following the deadly heat of 2024, authorities have increased their efforts to combat heat-related illnesses by mobilizing more than 40 government organizations and 250, 000 authorities this time. According to Saudi Arabia‘s hajj minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah last week, shaded areas have been expanded by 50, 000 square meters ( 12 acres ), thousands of more doctors will be on standby, and more than 400 cooling units will be deployed. The health department claimed 44 cases of heatstroke had already been treated on Monday, with temperatures topping 40 degrees Fahrenheit. To better maintain the massive crowds, the most recent artificial intelligence technology will also help with the monitoring of the influx of data and images, including movie from a new ship of drones, from across Mecca. As they arrived in Mecca, travellers were overjoyed despite the oppressive temperature.
Quite hot, very hot, quite popular:
Abdul Majid Ati, a Filipino prosecutor and Sharia advisor, told AFP near the Grand Mosque,” This is really a gift from Allah.” At only 27 years old, Abdulhamid, from Nigeria, said he was “very content” to be doing his second trip in a string.” We feel thus peaceful and safe in this area. The young man, however, claimed he never left without his glasses and that Mecca’s weather was “very, very, very sizzling.” The holy city’s and its environs ‘ ceremonies, which are conducted in the month of June, are once more observed this time. Most of the incidents last year occurred among unregulated travelers who lacked access to cooled tents and trucks. They were misled by the heat’s extreme temperature, according to Fahad Saeed of Climate Analytics, a think-tank based in Germany. Saudi authorities used regular raids, drone monitoring, and a bombardment of text alerts to ramp up the crackdown on unlicensed worshippers in the weeks leading up to this year’s hajj.
Imprisonment and deportation
Hajj mandates are distributed to people by jackpot and are distributed to places on a quota system. However, the high costs cause some people to attempt the worship without a permit, despite the fact that they run the risk of being arrested and deported if found guilty. Those found entering Mecca without permission during the worship could receive a 10-year ban from Saudi Arabia in addition to severe fines. Huge crowds at the worship have previously proved dangerous, most recently when a panic during the” stoning the dragon” ritual in Mina, near Mecca, resulted in the deadliest worship devastation, killing up to 2, 300 individuals. Saudi Arabia, which hosts Mecca and Medina’s two most revered holy sites, makes billions of dollars annually from the annual pilgrimage and other-year-long shrines known as hajj. The Saudi king, who is credited with overseeing the two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina, is also a recipient of honor. Mariama, a 52-year-old Senegalese traveller, has a life-long desire fulfilled by the pilgrimage to Mecca. She said,” I was having a dream about it and thinking about it every time I came around to perform the hajj.”
