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Tag: hajj

  • Over 70,000 pilgrims visit Madinah since end of Hajj

    Over 70,000 pilgrims visit Madinah since end of Hajj

    Of those pilgrims, 22,744 have left Madinah while the total number of pilgrims remaining in the city stood at 51,076 on Saturday…reports Asian Lite News

    73,820 pilgrims of various nationalities have visited Madinah after performing Hajj as of Saturday, Saudi Press Agency reported.

    Hajj ended on July 12, and many pilgrims who did not visit the holy city before performing the pilgrimage traveled to it afterwards to visit the Prophet’s Mosque and pay their respects to him.

    Of those pilgrims, 22,744 have left Madinah while the total number of pilgrims remaining in the city stood at 51,076 on Saturday.

    7,347 left the city where Prophet Muhammad is buried through Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport.

    60 samples of Zamzam water analyzed daily  

    60 samples of Zamzam are taken from various sites at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah daily and analyzed to ensure the safety of the water, Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

    The samples are taken from Zamzam containers, filling points, drinking fountains, and tanks in an organized and continuous manner throughout the day. They are then analyzed to ensure the water is safe and has not been exposed to contaminants.

    The laboratory where the samples are analysed is equipped with the best modern technology, and the team that collects the samples and analyzes them is made up of specialist technical staff.

    Golf carts help elderly pilgrims in Madinah

    The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Prophet’s Mosque has set up a transportation service using golf carts to help the elderly reach the mosque’s facilities more easily.

    Each golf cart can accommodate six persons, and 40 employees are available to effectuate the transfers, which currently average 800 per day.

    About 5,000 people per day are benefitting from the service, and 400 wheelchairs have been made available to visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque. More than 32,000 people have used the golf cart service so far in the post-Hajj season, while over 138,000 people used the service during the pre-Hajj season.

    A specialized team prepares and maintains the carts and wheelchairs daily, also supplying the women’s section with wheelchairs in two locations in the new western courtyards of the Prophet’s Mosque.

    Statistics from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah revealed that almost 74,000 pilgrims of various nationalities arrived in Madinah Saturday evening after performing the Hajj rituals in Makkah.

    According to the statistics, almost 23,000 pilgrims left Madinah after Hajj to their respective countries.

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  • GIFT AFTER HAJJ

    GIFT AFTER HAJJ

    Pilgrims departing Saudi Arabia after completing Hajj are being gifted copies of the Qur’an at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport.

    One million copies of the holy book in different sizes and translations of it in 76 languages will be distributed to pilgrims leaving the Kingdom through land, sea and airports.

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  • Saudi to increase this year’s Hajj capacity to 1 million pilgrims

    Saudi to increase this year’s Hajj capacity to 1 million pilgrims

    Saudi Arabia has decided to increase this year’s Hajj capacity to 1 million pilgrims from inside the Kingdom and abroad, according to each country’s allocation, and in line with preventive recommendations…reports Asian Lite News

    Quoting the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that this year’s Hajj will apply to pilgrims who are younger than 65 years old and who have full immunisation with the basic doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine according to the Saudi Ministry of Health.

    Those attending Hajj from abroad must submit a negative PCR test for COVID-19, using a sample taken within 72 hours before departure to Saudi Arabia, it said.

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    The Ministry has stressed that pilgrims must adhere to preventive measures, and must follow precautionary instructions while performing their Hajj duties, to ensure their health and wellbeing. (WAM)

  • Saudi Arabia launches visa app for Hajj, Umrah pilgrims in UK

    Saudi Arabia launches visa app for Hajj, Umrah pilgrims in UK

    Saudi Arabia is the first country in the world to allow registration of biometrics via smartphones for the issuance of electronic visas…reports Asian Lite News

    A new smartphone app that makes it easy for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to apply for visas to enter Saudi Arabia is now available in the UK.

    The Saudi Visa Bio app allows applicants to register their biometric data prior to travel and saves them having to visit visa issuance centers. On arrival in the Kingdom, they will only have to match their data with the information stored on the app, which speeds up the border control process.

    The app was launched last year by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and is in line with the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to offer the best possible services and facilities for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

    Saudi Arabia is the first country in the world to allow registration of biometrics via smartphones for the issuance of electronic visas.

    The service was developed in cooperation with several government agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Presidency of State Security, the National Cybersecurity Authority, and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority.

    A launch ceremony was held in the presence of Saudi Deputy Ambassador to the UK Hassan Al-Jamee’ and the Head of the Consular Department at the Saudi Embassy Ammar Al-Ammar.

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  • Saudi leadership lauded for successful completion of Hajj

    Saudi leadership lauded for successful completion of Hajj

    Arab Parliament President Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi, in a statement, lauded the health and security measures taken by the Kingdom to make Hajj season a success….reports Asian Lite News

    The Gulf countries have congratulated Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the success of this year’s Hajj season.

    Arab Parliament President Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi, in a statement, lauded the health and security measures taken by the Kingdom to make Hajj season a success.

    Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Kuwaiti Emir, Baharaini King and Crown Prince, among other leaders of the Gulf nations congratulated the Saudi leadership for making this year’s Hajj a success amid ongoing pandemic crisis.

    audi Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah had earlier said that the health plan for this year’s Hajj 1442 AH was a success as the pilgrimage was free from coronavirus and other epidemic diseases.

    In a statement on Thursday, he said that the Ministry of Health and Saudi Red Crescent Authority had put in place an integrated system of health facilities in the holy sites, including hospitals, health centres and highly equipped ambulances supervised by medical, technical and administrative teams of qualified and trained staff.

    All government entities involved in serving the pilgrims have made great efforts to implement the Hajj health plan to ensure pilgrims’ safety and prevent the spread of any infection among them in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Al-Rabiah added.

    The minister expressed his gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Crown Prince for their keenness to provide all means and capabilities to serve pilgrims and facilitate their performance of Hajj rituals in a comfortable and safe atmosphere.

    Dr. Al-Rabiah stressed that early efforts and precautionary measures in dealing with the health situation during this year’s Hajj season, which necessitated limiting the number of pilgrims to 60,000 who completed the vaccination against COVID-19, have contributed to the success of the health plan that ensured the safety of pilgrims.

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  • Saudi uses latest tech to control Covid during Haj

    Saudi uses latest tech to control Covid during Haj

    The Haj smart card records its holder’s personal, medical and residential information….reports Asian Lite News

     The Saudi government is employing the latest information technologies to help control the spread of Covid-19 during this year’s Haj season.

    The Ministry of Haj and Umrah said on Sunday that it launched the “Haj smart cards” to facilitate the journey of pilgrims, reports Xinhua news agency.

    The cards, equipped with near field communication (NFC) technologies, can be scanned by self-service machines at the holy sites to feed fast and accurate information to the organisers.

    The Haj smart card records its holder’s personal, medical and residential information.

    It can also help the pilgrims to find locations and gain access to various venues.

    Moreover, the kingdom also distributed about 5,000 smart bracelets for pilgrims, which are not only capable of storing the pilgrims’ personal information, but also monitoring their health conditions such as blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and possible exposure to the infectious virus.

    It is the second year in a row, in which Saudi Arabia is organising the annual pilgrimage without foreign worshippers as part of precautionary measures against the ongoing pandemic.

    About 60,000 Muslims, selected by the authorities from 558,000 registered ones, will take part in the 2021 Haj season, while the number was 2.5 million in 2019.

    More than 13 million worshippers wearing masks and observing physical distancing rules have visited the mosques since the seven-month prayer and Umrah suspension was lifted last October.

    Last week, Saudi Arabia had launched an awareness campaign for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

    It focused on educating the pilgrims about the precautionary instructions that must be adhered to before entering Makkah to ensure a healthy environment for performing the rituals of Hajj during this unprecedented situation.

    The ministry’s deployment of electronic systems for various Hajj procedures, including a Hajj smart card “Shayir” helps control the entry of pilgrims to camps in the holy sites and various facilities and grouping them to the Jamarat facility, Deputy Minister of Hajj, Dr. Abdulfattah bin Suleiman Mashat said.

    The campaign has educated the pilgrims about the benefits of the unified card for all pilgrims, which contains their personal, medical and residential information. This information contributes to better coordination of the Hajj procedures, starting with issuing the Hajj permit and managing the entry of pilgrims to Makkah and the holy sites, and performance of Hajj rituals

    It also helps guiding and organising the pilgrims in the camps of the holy sites, the mount of Arafat, the stoning of the Jamarat, the Ifadah Tawaf, along with other rituals.

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  • OIC welcomes Saudi decision to hold Hajj this year

    OIC welcomes Saudi decision to hold Hajj this year

    The Kingdom successfully managed the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year without compromising on the pilgrims’ safety and health amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic…reports Asian Lite News

    The secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, lauded the Saudi Arabia’s decision to hold this year’s Hajj amid strict COVID-19 safety measures to ensure pilgrims’ safety.

    Al-Othaimeen praised the Kingdom’s leadership for their efforts to serve the pilgrims, the Arab News reported.

    He said Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to the health and safety of pilgrims and visitors to the two holy mosques, it was reported.

    The Kingdom successfully managed the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year without compromising on the pilgrims’ safety and health amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

    The OIC chief lauded the Saudi authorities for utilizing all resources to serve pilgrims.

    It was on Sunday, Saudi Arabia had announced its plan to hold this year’s Haj pilgrimage under Covid safety measures that will ensure preserving the health and safety of the worshippers.

    The health authorities in the Kingdom continue to assess conditions and take all measures to protect the health and well-being of the public, state media quoted the Ministry of Haj and Umrah as saying on Sunday.

    It added that organisation details of the Haj season will be announced later, Xinhua news agency reported.

    The Ministry did not mention whether foreign pilgrims will be allowed to attend this season.

    The Kingdom had organised an exceptional Haj season last year with a limited number of pilgrims as part of precautionary measures against the spread of Covid-19.

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