Saudi’s Missing Pilgrims Cause Firms to Go Bust

Firms and farms globally are suffering as Saudi Arabia imposes Hajj limitations
As Saudi Arabia restricts the annual Hajj pilgrimage to only 1,000 people – down from 2 million – we look at the companies who are now without income, as their usual source of earning is wiped out this year due to coronavirus-related limits in the Kingdom. Many tour operators in Pakistan now have zero income, whilst farms in Kenya are overrun with excess cattle due to a lack of Saudi orders to feed its annual influx of devout Muslims. We speak with economists and financiers in the Kingdom to find out how they are going to plug the multibillion dollar hole in their budget this year. The BBC’s Faarea Masud reports.

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World's Largest Pilgrimage – Hajj Documentary

We snuck a handicam into Mecca, Saudi Arabia to film the Islamic tradition of Hajj, the world's largest annual pilgrimage and the biggest gathering of people in the world at any given time.

Inside Story - How Open Is Saudi's Invitation to Hajj Pilgrims from Qatar?

Almost three months after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar, Saudi's King Salman appears to offer a small step towards reconciliation. He's ordered the reopening of the border with Qatar to Hajj pilgrims. The invitation comes the day after the US described the Gulf crisis as being at a stalemate. Qatar's foreign minister welcomed the move, although he said it was a "politically-motivated decision". In reality, at the border crossing, some Qataris are still not being allowed to make the journey. What will it take to restore trust between sparring Arab neighbours? | Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Ibrahim Fraihat, Assoc. Prof. Conflict Resolution & Humanitarian Studies, Doha Institute; Maysam Behravesh, Political Science, Lund University; Arwa Ibrahim, News editor, Middle East Eye

A Prayer for Mecca: The City That Many Hajj Pilgrims Don't See (September 9, 2016)

As the hajj begins once again, Saudi artist Ahmed Mater has revealed unprecedented changes to the holy city – from flashy new hotels to the loss of priceless neighbourhoods. In the third episode of Crossing the Line, our series connecting the US and Middle East, he takes us inside Islam’s urban heart

Iran-Saudi Arabia Feud Impacts Hajj Ritual | DW News

One and a half million people have gathered in Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. But this year Iranian pilgrims are not attending. Iran’s political tensions with Saudi Arabia escalated when a deadly stampede last year killed many Iranians.

Muslims Gather around the Kaaba Shrine during the Hajj in Mecca

Muslims from across the world have gathered in Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, and visited the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque.

Nearly Two Million in Saudi Arabia for First Post-stampede Hajj

Close to two million pilgrims have converged on western Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj where new measures aim to prevent a recurrence of last year's stampede which killed around 2,300.

Iran Urges Muslims to Challenge Saudi Arabia’s Oversight of Holy Sites

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The call by Iran’s supreme leader comes days before the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca

DUBAI—Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday questioned Saudi Arabia’s fitness to oversee Islam’s holiest places and accused kingdom’s rulers of murder in last year’s deadly hajj pilgrimage stampede.

“Because of these rulers’ oppressive behavior toward God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of hajj,” Mr. Khamenei said Monday in a challenge likely to worsen already hostile relations between the two political and religious powers just days ahead of the start of this year’s hajj to Mecca. » | Asa Fitch and Margherita Stancati | Monday, September 5, 2016

A Sinner in Mecca (Trailer)

For a gay filmmaker, filming in Saudi Arabia presents two serious challenges: filming is forbidden in the country and homosexuality is punishable by death. For filmmaker Parvez Sharma, however, these were risks he had to assume as he embarked on his Hajj pilgrimage, a journey considered the greatest accomplishment and aspiration within Islam, his religion. He brings back the story of the religion like it has never been told before, having endured the biggest Jihad there is: the struggle with the self.

THE DAILY BEAST: Gay Muslim’s Secret Pilgrimage to Mecca: Parvez Sharma took the long trip to Mecca with two big secrets: He’s recording his journey on his phone, and he has a husband back home. » | Nina Strochlic | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Arnoud van Doorn: From Anti-Islamic Film-maker to Hajj Pilgrim

Hajji Arnoud van Doorn

Why is a former member of Geert Wilders' anti-Islamic Party for Freedom – who made a film claiming Muslims are violent – tweeting from Mecca?
Read why here

Hajji Now

Arnoud Van Doorn in Mekkah on Hajj

After converting to Islam some months ago, Arnoud Van Doorn has just performed the Hajj. He may therefore now be known as Hajji Arnoud. Hajji is the name given to a man who has performed the Hajj. He has now found himself “among these faithful hearts”. He hope his tears of regret will wash out all his sins after his repentance,” he said as his tears flowed. Fitna Producer Performs Hajj »

KHALEEJ TIMES: Arnoud to produce pro-Islam film »

‘Fitna’ Producer Finds Peace in the Holy Sites

Arnoud Van Doorn talks to Okaz/SG reporter in Mina

SAUDI GAZETTE: MINA — A once strident anti-Islam activist who gained notoriety as the producer of Fitna, a derogatory film wrongly portraying Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), has found peace and tranquility while performing Haj this year.


 Arnoud Van Doorn, a former member of the Geert Wilders racist Dutch Party for Freedom, reverted to Islam a year ago after propagating against the divine religion for years.

Van Doorn bitterly regrets having taken part in the production of the hateful film Fitna (Sedition) and said he was in the holy sites to atone for his sins.

“I found myself among these faithful hearts. I hope that my tears of regret will wash out all my sins after my repentance,” Van Doorn said.

He said, as a token of atonement, he will produce a new film that will show the true essence of Islam and the correct personality of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Van Doorn described Fitna as a totally wrong movie which contained a lot of misleading and incorrect information that had nothing to do with the noble divine religion or its great Prophet (pbuh).

He said that since his arrival in this holy land, he has been living the best days of his life and he hoped that he could spend more time in Madinah to which he was determined to return after the completion of his Haj rites.

“I felt ashamed standing in front of the Prophet’s grave. I thought of the grave mistake which I had made by producing that sacrilegious film. I hope that Allah will forgive me and accept my repentance,” he said.

Van Doorn said he read a lot about Islam and regretted his erstwhile hostility to this great religion. [Source: Saudi Gazette] | Hamza Mohammed | Okaz/Saudi Gazette

Hajj Authorities Vigilant Over Virus Scare

Health authorities are on alert for anyone suffering from MERS which has already claimed 52 lives in the Kingdom.

Two Die of Mers Virus in Saudi ahead of Hajj

Mecca's Grand Mosque

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two more Saudi Arabian citizens have died after contracting the Mers virus, the authorities announced, just days before an estimate two million people are expected to travel to the country for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The two men, aged 78 and 55, had also suffered from other chronic diseases, the Saudi ministry of health said on its website. But their deaths, which take the total number of victims to 58 worldwide, will do little to assuage fears that the huge gathering could increase the spread of the disease. The vast majority of cases of Mers have been in Saudi Arabia.

Last year a total of 3.2 million faithful, including 1.75 million foreigners, performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest site. Those from abroad came from 190 countries. Riyadh expects fewer people this year for the event, which runs from Sunday until October 18, because it has reduced the quotas from each country by 20 per cent in response to building work currently taking place in Mecca.

Between 20,000 and 25,000 Britons are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. » | Harriet Alexander | Thursday, October 10, 2013

Hajj Pilgrims to Wear Masks to Prevent Spread of Mers Virus

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia has issued a series of rules to pilgrims travelling to Mecca for the Hajj that will ban the elderly and force others to wear respiratory masks to prevent the Mers coronavirus turning into an epidemic.

Health ministry regulations for the piligrimage are the strictest in history as the government seeks to contain the spread of the new SARS-like condition which has affected 85 and killed 41.

Almost all those who have contracted Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) have been in Saudi Arabia or had contact with people who contracted it there. The first recorded Mers death was in June last year in Saudi Arabia.

Tens of millions of Muslims from around the world are expected to take part in the Hajj this October. The emergence of the mysterious virus ahead of the pilgrimage has been described as the single biggest worldwide public health since the deadly Sars pandemic. Read on and comment » | Damien McElroy | Saturday, July 13, 2013

Hajj - A Journey to the Heart of Islam
Prince Charles at the opening of the exhibition: Hajj - a journey to the heart of Islam, at the British Museum in London (Reporter: Ranii-TV Radio Presenter) | July 2012

Prince Charles Official Opening Speech of the Hajj Exhibition at the British Museum: Official Opening of the Hajj Exhibition at the British Museum, London. Thursday 26th January, 2012 by HRH Prince Charles, Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah and Prince Muhammad bin Nawaf (Saudi Ambassador to the UK). »

Hajj Pilgrims Gather on Mount Arafat
Millions of pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat for the annual Hajj, including groups from Syria, who call for an end to the Assad regime in their country.

Millions of Muslims Gather in the Saudi City of Mecca to Perform the Hajj

To the gallery »

Hajj Pilgrims Offer Prayers for Muslim Unity

FOX NEWS: MECCA, Saudi Arabia – Millions of Muslim pilgrims converged Wednesday on the holy city of Mecca in preparation for the hajj pilgrimage, many of them praying for unity in the Islamic world at a time of turmoil.

Some of the estimated 3.4 million faithful attending this year's pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia circled the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine located in the grand mosque at Mecca's heart. Others headed to the rocky desert hill of Mount Arafat to spend the night before a day of prayer and contemplation that marks the start of the hajj.

Muslims believe the rituals, which begin Thursday and end Monday, trace the footsteps of the prophets Abraham, Ishmael and Muhammad.

Many say the experience of worshipping alongside hundreds of thousands of the faithful makes them feel as though Islam transcends the political and sectarian conflicts dividing the Muslim world.

Standing shoulder to shoulder in prayer, the pilgrims say that this year, more than ever, they are praying for unity among the Umma, an Arabic word related to "mother" and which refers to the global Islamic community. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Islam Is the Solution, Grand Mufti Says in Haj Sermon

ARAB NEWS: ARAFAT – More than 2.5 million pilgrims from around the globe prayed for peace and security on the sprawling plains of Arafat on Saturday amid a forceful condemnation by Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh of those who provoke hostilities between the Ummah and its leaders.

The “wuqoof” or “the standing” in Arafat was the high point of the annual pilgrimage. It was also an extraordinary symbol of the unity and equality in Islam.

Delivering the keynote sermon at the majestic Al-Nimira Mosque, the grand mufti said: “Solve your problems without seeking interference from your enemies...and beware of those provoke hostility between you and your leaders.”

The mosque was packed with the faithful and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims prayed out in the open streets.

“Islam is the solution for the problems of Muslims,” he said, and warned Muslims of a media and cultural invasion that seeks to weaken their faith.

Al-Asheikh called on rulers in the Muslim countries not to oppress their people but to help them lead a dignified life.

“It is the duty of Muslim leaders to maintain justice and fight corruption. Their priority should be the welfare of their people,” Al-Asheikh said.

While the ruler strives to help solve the problems of the citizens, the subjects should obey, love and pray for their rulers, Al-Ashiekh said.

The mufti also advised government officials to shun bribery and nepotism, reminding Muslims that the Islamic world was passing through one of its most dangerous and challenging periods. » | ARAB NEWS | Sunday, November 06, 2011