Muslim Blog Muslim BlogMAKKAH – Thousands of elderly Muslims, with hunched backs and walking sticks, have made their way into Makkah to perform the life-time journey of hajj, defying health risks from two deadly viruses, Ebola and West Asia Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus or Mers.
“I have never before witnessed such a feeling of happiness,” Aisha, 50, an Algerian pilgrim in a face mask walking hand-in-hand with her son Ahmed, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, September 30.
Elderly Aisha is one of hundreds of thousands of faithful who have descended on Saudi Arabia’s holy city for the annual hajj pilgrimage starting on Thursday.
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Chanting “Allahu Akbar (God is greater)”, the Grand Mosque has been thronged for prayers and for the year-round minor pilgrimage or umrah.
This year’s Haj comes as the authorities strive to protect pilgrims from two deadly viruses, Ebola and West Asia Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus or Mers.
While Ebola has hit Africa, most Mers cases have been in Saudi Arabia itself. Pilgrims from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three nations hardest-hit by Ebola, have not been allowed in for the Haj.
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However Nigeria was granted permission to send pilgrims to the world’s largest gathering of Muslims.
“There was this scare earlier that pilgrims from Nigeria could not participate because of Ebola,” Saeed Amisu tells AFP.
Like other Nigerian pilgrims, Amisu had to undergo medical tests where his temperature was recorded both in Nigeria and at Jeddah airport, the main entry point for foreign pilgrims.
For prevention, “we were told to wash our hands with soap before” doing anything, Amisu says.
No Ebola cases have yet been found in the desert kingdom, and health officials reported the latest MERS death on Thursday from Najran, near the Yemen border.
Health Measures
Taking special procedures to keep health threats at bay, Saudi authorities’ mission was not an easy one.
With so many people concentrated in such a limited area for a short time, “the hajj season constitutes a factor increasing the likelihood of outbreaks or epidemics of infectious diseases”, acting Health Minister Adel Fakieh has said.
According to Ahmed from Algeria, “there are certain nationalities we try to stay away from.”
“We also try to keep away from closed areas and to keep wearing the face masks despite the hot weather,” he added.
Muslims from around the world pour into Makkah every year to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
Hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.
Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj at least once in a lifetime.
Hajj is officially expected to fall between October 2 and 7, with the climax falling on October 3 when the faithful descend the Mount `Arafat.
