Saudi Arabia concludes downsized hajj amid pandemic

Muslim pilgrims circle at Islam’s holiest site, along socially distanced paths, on Sunday, in the final ritual of the hajj, the smallest in modern history, as Saudi authorities sought to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

Only up to 10,000 Muslims took part in the hajj, a far cry from the 2.5 million who took part in the five-day annual pilgrimage last year.

Masked pilgrims threw pebbles at a wall symbolizing Satan in Mina, close to the holy city of Mecca, on the final day of hajj, state media reports.

Instead of gathering the pebbles themselves as in past years, they were handed them bagged and sterilized by hajj authorities, to protect against the novel coronavirus.

Pilgrims return to the Grand Mosque in Mecca later Sunday to perform a final “tawaf,” or circling of the Kaaba — a cubic structure towards which Muslims around the world pray.

— AFP