Domestic pilgrims planning to go straight to Arafat on Monday, Dul Hijjah 9, have been warned against doing so if they have no Haj permits, as checking will be conducted at holy sites also. Saad Al-Qurashi, a member of the Haj and Umrah Committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News that […]

Every year millions of Muslims visit Mecca for Hajj, the great pilgrimage that believers must undertake at least once in a lifetime, in a certain period of the year, and Umrah, the ‘minor’ pilgrimage, which can be undertaken at any time. The numbers are stunning: in July, 14 million pilgrims visited Mecca for the Umrah. […]