One thousand pilgrims performing the 2020 hajj will be at Arafat to listen to the sermon, which is the pinnacle of the hajj rites.
The authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had, last month, stated that it would hold a “very limited” hajj this year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had so far recorded over 250,000 cases of coronavirus and over 2,500 deaths.
The authorities had said the hajj rites would be restricted to 1,000 people already present in Saudi Arabia 70 percent of them foreigners and the rest Saudis.
The hajj rites, which began on Wednesday, saw the pilgrims converge on the Mina Valley outside Makkah to commence their spiritual journey of a lifetime.
There were reports that social distancing was observed.
Mina, 7 km northeast of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and within its boundaries, would normally be the site of the world’s largest tent city, accommodating about 2.5 million pilgrims.
However, hajj participation is restricted this year to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, and the pilgrims are all Saudis or expatriates who live in the Kingdom.
Those selected to take part in this year’s Hajj were subject to temperature checks and placed in quarantine as they began arriving in Makkah, and health workers sanitized their luggage. (Arab News)
