Pilgrims express joy at selection to perform virus-curtailed Hajj

Pilgrims specially picked to perform this year’s Hajj have described their joy at being given the chance to carry out the holy ritual amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, reports Arab News.

Due to the global health crisis, Saudi Arabia has only allowed a select number of worshippers to take part in the annual pilgrimage.

Just 60,000 of 500,000 Hajj applicants were chosen to participate in the religious event that attracted approximately 2.5 million pilgrims in 2019 alone.

Those selected for this year’s Hajj had to meet a number of specific requirements which included having been fully jabbed against COVID-19 with any of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Um Azzam, 53, and her husband Abu, from Riyadh, were both given the green light to attend Hajj.

She told Arab News: “We received the text message on the night of June 24 and the feeling was completely indescribable joy and happiness. We were hoping and praying to perform Hajj and our prayers were answered.

“Why should we be afraid (of performing Hajj during the pandemic) when we trust in Allah and are delegated to him? On top of that, we have taken our vaccines and trust in the precautionary measures.”

Mariam Mohammed, and her mother Um Mazin, an American citizen living in the Kingdom, were also selected to visit Makkah and the 24-year-old, from the Eastern Province, said it would be her first trip to the holy city as a pilgrim.

“I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to perform Hajj but, for some reason, it just never worked out. But it did this time.