More Than 550 Hajj Pilgrims Die in Mecca as Temperatures Exceed 50C

THE GUARDIAN: At least 320 of the dead are from Egypt and Saudi officials report treating more than 2,000 people for heat stress

At least 550 pilgrims have died during the hajj, underscoring the gruelling nature of the pilgrimage which again unfolded in scorching temperatures this year.

At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, the two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP.

“All of them [the Egyptians] died because of heat” except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats said, adding that the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca.

At least 60 Jordanians have died, the diplomats said, up from an official tally of 41 given earlier on Tuesday by Amman.

The new deaths bring the total reported so far by multiple countries to 577, according to an AFP tally. » | Agence France-Presse in Riyadh | Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Saudi Arabia: Man Arrested after Mecca Pilgrimage for Queen

THE GUARDIAN: Yemeni national posted video clip of himself at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site

Saudi authorities have arrested a man who claimed to have travelled to the Muslim holy city of Mecca to perform an umrah pilgrimage on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

The man, a Yemeni national, published a video clip of himself on social media on Monday at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, where non-Muslims are forbidden.

In the clip, he held up a banner saying: “Umrah for the soul of Queen Elizabeth II, we ask God to accept her in heaven and among the righteous.” » | Agence France-Presse in Riyadh | Tuesday, September 13, 2022

LATEST UPDATES on Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III here.

Saudi’s Missing Pilgrims Cause Firms to Go Bust

Firms and farms globally are suffering as Saudi Arabia imposes Hajj limitations
As Saudi Arabia restricts the annual Hajj pilgrimage to only 1,000 people – down from 2 million – we look at the companies who are now without income, as their usual source of earning is wiped out this year due to coronavirus-related limits in the Kingdom. Many tour operators in Pakistan now have zero income, whilst farms in Kenya are overrun with excess cattle due to a lack of Saudi orders to feed its annual influx of devout Muslims. We speak with economists and financiers in the Kingdom to find out how they are going to plug the multibillion dollar hole in their budget this year. The BBC’s Faarea Masud reports.

Listen to the podcast here

Why Is Mecca Having an $80bn Makeover? | The Economist

Saudi Arabia is investing billions of dollars remodeling Mecca, home of Islam’s holiest site—the Kaaba. Its plans include building the world’s largest hotel. The aim is to double Mecca's capacity to host worshippers, to nearly seven million, by 2040. The redevelopment has destroyed scores of old shrines.

A Prayer for Mecca: The City That Many Hajj Pilgrims Don't See (September 9, 2016)

As the hajj begins once again, Saudi artist Ahmed Mater has revealed unprecedented changes to the holy city – from flashy new hotels to the loss of priceless neighbourhoods. In the third episode of Crossing the Line, our series connecting the US and Middle East, he takes us inside Islam’s urban heart

Iran-Saudi Arabia Feud Impacts Hajj Ritual | DW News

One and a half million people have gathered in Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. But this year Iranian pilgrims are not attending. Iran’s political tensions with Saudi Arabia escalated when a deadly stampede last year killed many Iranians.

Muslims Gather around the Kaaba Shrine during the Hajj in Mecca

Muslims from across the world have gathered in Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, and visited the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque.

Iran Urges Muslims to Challenge Saudi Arabia’s Oversight of Holy Sites

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The call by Iran’s supreme leader comes days before the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca

DUBAI—Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday questioned Saudi Arabia’s fitness to oversee Islam’s holiest places and accused kingdom’s rulers of murder in last year’s deadly hajj pilgrimage stampede.

“Because of these rulers’ oppressive behavior toward God’s guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of hajj,” Mr. Khamenei said Monday in a challenge likely to worsen already hostile relations between the two political and religious powers just days ahead of the start of this year’s hajj to Mecca. » | Asa Fitch and Margherita Stancati | Monday, September 5, 2016

Saudi's Lavish Buildings Threaten To Overwhelm Mecca Site

Triumph or Folly? Mecca's Royal Clock Tower: how Islam's most religious site is becoming a building site for opulent structures

Hungary Taunts Merkel over Terror and Says 'Our Problem Is Not in Mecca, But in Brussels'

EXPRESS: THE BITTER divisions ripping the European Union apart intensified today as Hungary launched an eviscerating attack on Brussels over migration and taunted Angela Merkel for failing to protect German people from Islamist terror.

In an astonishingly savage tirade the country’s leader Viktor Orban described the EU elite as serial “failures” and openly goaded struggling western European nations, describing them as “stagnated and incapable of change”.

The hardline Prime Minister called for a radical overhaul of the European project, decrying the growing loss of sovereignty to Brussels as a disaster and “one of the greatest threats in Europe today”.

And he issued a stunning rebuke to Mrs Merkel on migration, blaming recent terror attacks on the mas influx of refugees and saying Hungary no longer looked up to its near neighbour as a paragon of stability and common sense. » | Nick Gutteridge | Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Stampede Near Mecca During Hajj Leaves at Least 453 Dead

THE NEW YORK TIMES: BEIRUT, Lebanon — At least 453 people were killed, and 719 were injured, in a stampede near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday morning.

The deaths occurred around 9 a.m. on the first day of Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest holidays in the Muslim calendar, and as millions of Muslims were making their pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca. The accident took place at the intersection of two roads in Mina, causing many to fall and others to panic, according to Saudi Arabia’s civil defense directorate.

Saudi authorities reported the deaths on Twitter and said that two medical centers had been opened in Mina to treat the injured. More than 4,000 emergency workers were sent to the scene, and hundreds of people were taken to four hospitals. » | Ben Hubbard and Mona Boshnaq | Thursday, September 24, 2015

At Least 65 Killed as Crane Crashes into Mecca's Grand Mosque

THE TELEGRAPH: Incident comes as hundreds of thousands of Muslims begin to gather in Saudi Arabia's holy city for the annual hajj pilgrimage

At least 65 people were killed and 80 injured when a construction crane crashed into the Grand Mosque of Saudi Arabia's holy Muslim city of Mecca Friday, the civil defence said on Twitter. Pictures circulating on social media showed bloodied bodies strewn across a courtyard where the top part of the crane, which appeared to have collapse or snapped, had crashed into it. It was raining heavily at the time. The incident occurred as hundreds of thousands of Muslims gather from all over the world for the annual hajj pilgrimage set to begin later this month. » | AFP | Friday, September 11, 2015




THE GUARDIAN: Mecca crane crash: 65 dead at Grand Mosque – live: Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence authority says 154 people also injured in preparations for annual hajj pilgrimage » | Jessica Elgot | Friday, September 11, 2015

A Sinner in Mecca (Trailer)

For a gay filmmaker, filming in Saudi Arabia presents two serious challenges: filming is forbidden in the country and homosexuality is punishable by death. For filmmaker Parvez Sharma, however, these were risks he had to assume as he embarked on his Hajj pilgrimage, a journey considered the greatest accomplishment and aspiration within Islam, his religion. He brings back the story of the religion like it has never been told before, having endured the biggest Jihad there is: the struggle with the self.

THE DAILY BEAST: Gay Muslim’s Secret Pilgrimage to Mecca: Parvez Sharma took the long trip to Mecca with two big secrets: He’s recording his journey on his phone, and he has a husband back home. » | Nina Strochlic | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

ISIS Puts Bull’s Eye on Mecca, Medina

WND: 'Allah wills it' declaration puts fear in other Sunni jihadists

WASHINGTON – Now that the Islamic State has issued a declaration that Muslims around the world must adhere to its recently announced caliphate, jihadist fighters say Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia will be the next targets after Jordan.

Sources say the Islamic State, former the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (or Greater Syria), is a rival to Saudi Arabia, even though both are Sunni. However, like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State abhors monarchies. The Islamic State is hoping that the Saudi army will revolt against the King and join its caliphate.

The area between Iraq and Jordan, into Saudi Arabia, is mostly desert, allowing the Islamic State to make major inroads into the kingdom before meeting resistance.

Saudi Arabia is aware that it could be the target of the Islamic State and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the recently announced caliph or leader with the title of Khalifah Ibrahim. Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz recently met with newly elected Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to obtain counter-terrorism assistance if there is an attack on the kingdom.

According to WND sources, Abdullah was accompanied by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who once was the kingdom’s chief of intelligence and head of the Saudi National Security Council.

Abdullah made the move after finally realizing that Bandar’s strategy of financing and providing weapons to jihadist fighters in Syria could backfire on the kingdom, with various jihadist groups fighting among each other on the side of the Syrian opposition. Moreover, the approach was not bringing down the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. » | E Michael Maloof | Wednesday, July 02, 2014

This Is the Promise of Allah »

Hajj Authorities Vigilant Over Virus Scare

Health authorities are on alert for anyone suffering from MERS which has already claimed 52 lives in the Kingdom.

Mecca Construction Transforms Holy City

As thousands of pilgrims pour into city for Hajj amid construction, some think that renovation could jeopardise legacy.

The Photos Saudi Arabia Doesn't Want Seen – and Proof Islam's Most Holy Relics Are Being Demolished in Mecca

THE INDEPENDENT: Archaeologists fear billion-pound development has led to destruction of key historical sites

The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam’s most important mosque as part of a highly controversial multi-billion expansion.

Photographs obtained by The Independent reveal how workers with drills and mechanical diggers have started demolishing some Ottoman and Abbasid sections on the eastern side of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.

The building, which is also known as the Grand Mosque, is the holiest site in Islam because it contains the Kaaba – the point to which all Muslims face when praying. The columns are the last remaining sections of the mosque which date back more than a few hundred years and form the inner perimeter on the outskirts of the white marble floor surrounding the Kaaba.

The new photos, taken over the last few weeks, have caused alarm among archaeologists and come as Prince Charles – a long term supporter of preserving architectural heritage – flew into Saudi Arabia yesterday for a visit with the Duchess of Cornwall. The timing of his tour has been criticised by human rights campaigners after the Saudis shot seven men in public earlier this week despite major concerns about their trial and the fact that some of the men were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes.

Many of the Ottoman and Abbasid columns in Mecca were inscribed with intricate Arabic calligraphy marking the names of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions and key moments in the founder of Islam’s life. One column which is believed to have been ripped down is supposed to mark the sport where Muslims believe Muhammad began his heavenly journey on a winged horse which took him to Jerusalem and heaven in a single night. » | Jerome Taylor | Friday, March 15, 2013

Five Members of British Family Die in Car Crash on Pilgrimage to Mecca But One-year-old Baby Survives
MAIL ONLINE: Baby survived but grandparents, aunt, father and pregnant mother killed / Found 'miraculously' alive in arms of dying grandfather who 'saved his life' / Aunt, due to marry days later, sent last text saying driver going 'too fast' / Taxi driver 'fell asleep' at wheel with three generations of same family in car

Five members of a British family were killed in a car crash on a pilgrimage to Mecca - but a one-year-old baby miraculously survived in the wreckage.

The three generations of the family were making the 3,000 mile trip to Saudi Arabia for the religious journey when their taxi crashed.

The only survivor of the horror smash was Mohammed Eisa Danial Hayat, one, who lost both his parents, grandparents and aunt in the crash.

Baby Mohammed was found being cradled in the arms of his dying grandfather in the crash.

Grandfather Shaukat Ali Hayat, 56, his wife Abida, 47, and their children, Mohammed Isshaq Hayat, 33, and Saira Zenub Hayat, 30, died in the smash. » | Emily Davies | Monday, February 11, 2013

Hajj Pilgrims Gather on Mount Arafat
Millions of pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat for the annual Hajj, including groups from Syria, who call for an end to the Assad regime in their country.

Millions of Muslims Gather in the Saudi City of Mecca to Perform the Hajj

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