By Politico staff writer
Residents of Saudi Arabia have on Tuesday 27th July 2021 completed the 2021 Muslim pilgrimage in Makkah. The practice which is mandatory for Muslims who can afford the cost is normally widely observed by Muslims across the globe.
However, this year’s pilgrimage was restricted to only residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia according to a statement released on Saturday 12th June 2021 from Saudi’s ministries of Health and Hajj, and that a total of 60,000 pilgrims within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage this year, which started in the middle of July.
Out of the 60,000 permitted residents, six Sierra Leoneans residing participated in the 1442/2021 Hajj. They were the Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Sierra Leone in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Ibrahim Jalloh, Minister Plenipotentiary/Head of Chancery, Ibrahim V. Kondoh, Information Attaché, Abubakarr S. Bah, Sheku Golfa, an employee of UNICEF, Alhaji Bailah Bah and Mariama Dalan Bah. Last year’s Hajj was also attended by few Sierra Leonean resident in Saudi including students. Before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, Sierra Leone used to send a delegation of 700, to 800 pilgrims every year.
The Hajj process according to reports from Sierra Leone’s Information attaché in Saudi Arabia, Abubakarr Bah, started with the movement of pilgrims from Mina to Arafat also known as “Jabal Al-Rahmah” (the Mountain of Mercy), where they spent the rest of the day till sunset. After the Arafat rituals, the pilgrims proceeded to Muzdalifah for Maghrib and Isha prayers and a brief rest.
Before the closing circumambulation of Al-Kaaba he said (pilgrims walking around the Al-kaaba in one direction in a circular fashion to symbolize their belief in and worship of the one true God), the pilgrims threw pebbles at “Jamarat” in Mina on three consecutive days: 7 pebbles for the first, 21 for the second and 21 for the third day respectively. Agents representing all the government’s Hajj-related authorities monitored the stoning process. Throughout the ritual, the pilgrims followed COVID-19 precautionary measures to ensure their safety.
Bah quoted Saudi Minister of Health Dr Tawfiq Al-Rabiah saying that the health plan for this year’s Hajj was a success with no COVID-19 infection cases identified.
Pilgrims according to the report paid a fee ranging from $4000 to $8000 respectively per pilgrim. The shortlisted pilgrims were between the ages of 18 and 65 with no terminal illnesses and symptoms of the coronavirus.
Before the outbreak of COVID -19, Makkah used to host about 2.5 million pilgrims around the world annually but in 2020, the number was downsized to 1,000 and 60,000 pilgrims in 2021 due to the continuous scourge in the COVID -19 pandemic globally and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in particular.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (29/07/21)
