Under the shadow of the Gaza war, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have come to the Saudi holy city of Makkah for this year’s hajj pilgrimage.
Friday marks the official start of one of the biggest yearly Islamic gatherings in the world, and Saudi officials are attempting to maintain the emphasis on prayers.
Tawfiq al-Rabiah, the minister of the Gulf state in charge of religious pilgrimages, issued a warning last week, saying that “no political activity” will be allowed.
One of the five pillars of Islam is the hajj, which all Muslims who can afford to do so must do at least once. As of Thursday, about 1.2 million pilgrims have traveled from overseas to Saudi Arabia to undertake the hajj.
More than 1.8 million individuals finished the multi-day Hajj rituals last year. According to government statistics, about 90% of them were foreign-born, primarily from Asia and other Arab countries.
Umer Karim, a Saudi political expert at the University of Birmingham, said that Saudi leaders are facing a “test” this year during the hajj because of the waning military actions by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza, which has “created a lot of anger in (the) broader Muslim world”.
“Protest or performance is bound to happen by individuals or groups of pilgrims, and Saudis understand this is a slippery slope,” he said. “Thus for Saudi rulers conducting hajj is a matter of prestige but also a test of their governance.”
