Hajj 2018 : Two million pilgrims in Makkah
By Naser Al Wasmi
Saudi Arabia will host two million Muslims this week as they descend on Makkah to perform one of the five pillars of Islam: Hajj. Hajj begins on the eighth day of Dhu Al Hijjah, which falls on August 19 this year. It will end on August 24. It requires a sequence of rituals, prayers and a certain state of body and mind to perform properly.
The worlds largest annual pilgrimage, Hajj requires the faithful to repeat a set of rituals first performed by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) centuries ago. The event is a deeply spiritual experience for Muslims, and one that every believer aspires to take part in at some point in their life, if they are able. Those who are unable to perform the pilgrimage for financial or health reasons are exempt.
For many pilgrims, the journey to Makkah is the first time they will leave their countries or board planes. More than half of those performing Hajj visit from low-income countries, and 18 percent come from conflict-ridden states.
Whats new for Hajj
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced it will work with the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission to set up 16,000 communication towers and more than 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots.
The towers will provide pilgrims with undisrupted 4G mobile internet to maintain contact with their families and make use of the ministrys online services. The authorities also launched the Smart Hajj initiative, providing pilgrims with smartphone apps to help them through the pilgrimage.
The app Asefny allows users to send health reports through their phones and request medical care in emergencies. The app tracks a pilgrims location in order to provide them with services or assistance to those with special needs.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah also launched the new version of the Manasikana app meant to guide pilgrims through every step of Hajj, from signing up for the pilgrimage to their return home. Available in eight different languages, it provides information that includes prayer times and flight schedules, the weather forecast for Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah, emergency numbers, the location of the nearest emergency centre and currency exchange rates.
Hajj Hackathon
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah organised the inaugural Hajj Hackathon earlier this month to help it come up with technological solutions to some of the pilgrimages most pressing issues.
The challenge of Hajj is to co-ordinate two million people visiting three sites and performing religious rituals at specific times over a span of a week.
The event offered cash prizes to the top three participants, amounting to two million Saudi riyals (Dh1.96m), to transform their ideas into application-based solutions.
An all-female team of Saudi and Yemeni computer programmers won the first place with Turjuman, an instant translation app aimed at facilitating communication between pilgrims from all over the world.
Other ideas included Hajj Wallet, which came in second place, winning 500,000 riyals. The app would allow pilgrims to pay through their phones for services during Hajj thereby reducing cases of pickpocketing.
The competitions eight-member judging panel included Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple.
Noura Alabdulkareem, chief executive of the Social Development Bank, addressed the Hackathon gathering and revealed that the bank has created a 30 million-riyal funding arm to further the winning initiatives.
Handling Hajj logistics
Makkah becomes one of the most densely populated areas in the world during Hajj, with millions of people moving in unison to perform the rituals.
A total of 1,535 flights carrying pilgrims are expected this year, with the rest arriving overland and sea. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has employed 16,000 people to guide the pilgrims as they travel from Makkah to Mount Arafat, a 20-kilometre journey.
Infrastructure upgrades give pilgrims multiple travel options for the trip. Trains departing every 15 minutes will carry thousands of pilgrims, while cars and buses are also commonly used.
However, some pilgrims prefer to make the journey on foot in the traditional way. The three-hour walk in temperatures that reach the high 40s can be arduous and potentially dangerous. Congestion during peak hours can make the journey even longer. The ministry posts employees and healthcare professionals along the way to tend to the hundreds of thousands making the journey.
From policemen spraying cool water from backpack-mounted tanks to air-conditioned marble floors, Hajj officials attempt to make the summer heat of Makkah as bearable as possible.
Outdoor cooling equipment and sprinklers have also been installed along the most congested routes to try to bring the temperatures down.
Massive walkways and bridges have been built to create multiple lanes for those travelling by foot, each staffed with healthcare professionals and government employees handing out water and snacks.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior is deploying tens of thousands of security personnel to Makkah and Medina to ensure the safety of the expected two million pilgrims.
How to stay healthy during Hajj
No cases of epidemics or quarantine-requiring diseases have been reported among pilgrims congregating in the weeks before Hajj, and the health situation so far is reassuring.
Every year, the Saudi Ministry of Health issues a list of vaccinations required of all pilgrims intending to perform Hajj, according to World Health Organisation standards.
This year, the ministry has asked for meningitis, yellow fever and polio vaccinations. Citizens from certain countries might have to take receive additional vaccines depending on the prevalent communicable diseases.
Outbreaks of cholera and the Ebola virus in different parts of the world have raised fears of an epidemic at Hajj, but authorities have taken every measure to avoid this. n
Source: thenational.ae
Photos: Agencies
