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Ihsar Sadi
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Asked: 2020-03-13T09:40:48+00:00 In: ,

Is Muslim Hajj 2020 going to be restricted due to coronavirus fears?

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The Hajj is the fifth pillar in Islam. It is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is the holiest city for Muslims.

Saudi Arabia has already put a ban on Muslims travelling from various countries, particularly those are affected by coronavirus.

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    3 Answers

    1. Level 1

      There are likely to be comparatively fewer people attending the Hajj compared to the last year.

      One reason could be that the other countries would have their own provisions to contain the coronavirus outbreak rather than Saudi Arabia measures to restrict people from attending the ritual.

      This is a very significant event and must be dealt with care and measures. Around 1.8 million Muslims from nearly 160 countries attended the Hajj pilgrimage in 2019. It would be difficult to monitor so many people in one city when the stay can be from 5 days to 30 days.

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    3. Level 1
      This answer was edited.

      Back in 2009, during the swine flu outbreak, the Saudi most senior religious leader (Grand Mufti) rejected the calls to suspend the main Hajj pilgrimage and called it absolutely unjustified. At that time he said that it was permissible for pilgrims to wear protective face masks during the Hajj.

      So, in that context, I do not think the Hajj would be cancelled and of course, it cannot be postponed.

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    4. Level 1
      This answer was edited.

      The Hajj was cancelled many times in the past for various reasons such as disease, conflict, the activities of bandits and raiders etc.

      Last week, the Saudi King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (https://www.darah.org.sa/index.php/st-and-rep/darah-events) released a statement noting 40 times in history during which the Hajj was either cancelled or the number of pilgrims was extremely low.

      Some occasions when Hajj was cancelled

      • In the 10th century AD (the third century in the Islamic calendar) Qarmatians sect took over the holy site in Mecca. Their belief system was based on Ismaili Shia Islam mixed with gnostic elements. However, they considered the Hajj to be a pagan ritual, and in 930 AD Abu Taher carried out a vicious attack on Mecca during the Hajj season. The Qarmatians killed around 30,000 pilgrims while mockingly chanting verses of the Quran at them and dumped their bodies in the sacred Zamzam well. They then stole the Black Stone from the Kaaba. For ten years after this, the Hajj was cancelled.
      • In 865 AD, Ismail bin Yousef, known as Al-Safak, who led a rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate, massacred pilgrims gathered at the Arafat Mountain near Mecca, also forcing the cancellation of the Hajj.
      • In 1000 AD the Hajj was cancelled for a much more prosaic reason – rising costs associated with travel.
      • In 1831, a plague from India killed nearly three-quarters of the pilgrims performing Hajj, while between 1837 and 1892, infection killed hundreds of pilgrims on a daily basis, according to the King Abdulaziz Centre.
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