Topic - Mecca

Mecca ( above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during Hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. - Source: Wikipedia

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Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Hundreds died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say

By Samy Magdy - Associated Press

Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims wrap up Hajj with final symbolic stoning of the devil and circling of Kaaba

By Samy Magdy - Associated Press

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, June 17, 2024. Muslim pilgrims used the early morning hours Monday to perform the second day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, as noontime summer heat caused heatstroke among thousands wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims resume symbolic stoning of the devil as they wrap up Hajj pilgrimage in deadly heat

By Samy Magdy - Associated Press

Muslim pilgrims gather at the top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. Masses of Muslims gathered at the sacred hill of Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia for worship and reflection on the second day of the Hajj pilgrimage. The ritual at Mount Arafat, known as the hill of mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj. It's often the most memorable event for pilgrims, who stand shoulder to shoulder, asking God for mercy, blessings, prosperity and good health. Hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings on earth. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims meet at Mount Arafat for daylong worship as Hajj reaches its peak

By Samy Magdy - Associated Press

A general view of the Grand Mosque is seen from the Clock Tower during the Hajj pilgrimage in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 22, 2023. Mecca is Islam's holiest city and a focal point for the faith's followers. But it's also a place where around 2 million people live, work, and do everyday activities like laundry, grocery shopping, homework, putting the trash out and paying the bills. Traffic, the population and prices balloon during the peak Ramadan and Hajj seasons. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

What is it like living in Mecca? For residents, Islam’s holiest sites are simply home

By Riazat Butt - Associated Press

Muslim pilgrims walk around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on July 10, 2022. Police in Mecca say they have arrested a Saudi man who helped an Israeli-Jewish reporter sneak into the city, defying a rule that only Muslims can enter the area that is home to Islam's holiest site. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

Saudi police arrest man who helped Israeli sneak into Mecca

By Abdullah Al-Shihri and Aya Batrawy - Associated Press

In this photo taken with low shutter speed, Muslim pilgrims pray as others circumambulate around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Muslim pilgrims are converging on Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca for the largest hajj since the coronavirus pandemic severely curtailed access to one of Islam's five pillars. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

A hajj closer to normal: 1 million Muslims begin pilgrimage

By Amr Nabil and Isabel Debre - Associated Press

Thousands of Muslim pilgrims circumambulate around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, in the Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. Saudi Arabia is expected to receive one million Muslims to attend Hajj pilgrimage, which will begin on July 7, after two years of limiting the numbers because coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Saudi Arabia expecting 1 million in largest hajj since virus

By Amr Nabil - Associated Press

A Saudi security officer watches as Muslim hajj pilgrims, wearing masks and keeping social distancing to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, circumambulate the Kaaba, a square stone structure in the Great Mosque, in Mecca Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Once drawing some 2.5 million Muslims from across the globe to the holy city of Mecca, the Islamic pilgrimage has been dramatically scaled back due to the virus. (Saudi Media Ministry via AP)

Saudis to limit hajj to 1 million pilgrims under age 65

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Muslim pilgrims are seen through a glass window as they circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they wear masks and keep to social distancing, a day before the annual hajj pilgrimage, Saturday, July 17, 2021. The pilgrimage to Mecca required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it, used to draw more than 2 million people. But for a second straight year it has been curtailed due to the coronavirus with only vaccinated people in Saudi Arabia able to participate. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Virus transforms hajj in Mecca and future of the pilgrimage

By Amr Nabil and Aya Batrawy - Associated Press

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 1973, file photo, Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the Saudi Arabian oil minister is pictured at a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Yamani, a long-serving oil minister in Saudi Arabia who led the kingdom through the 1973 oil crisis, the nationalization its state energy company and later found himself kidnapped by the assassin Carlos the Jackal, died Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in London. He was 90. (AP Photo/Harry Harris, File)

Long-serving Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani dies at 90

By JON GAMBRELL - Associated Press

A pigeon flies over the site of the Grand Mosque that is empty due to the coronavirus prevention procedures, on the first day of the annual hajj that normally draws millions of faithful, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. A unique and scaled-down hajj started on Wednesday. (AP Photo)

Pilgrims pray on peak day of hajj in shadow of coronavirus

By Aya Batrawy - Associated Press

General view showing the Grand Mosque, at the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, July 27, 2020 ahead of the Hajj pilgrimage. Anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 pilgrims will be allowed to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo)

Technology infuses ancient hajj rites tailored for pandemic

By AYA BATRAWY - Associated Press

In this July 26, 2020 photo, a Saudi security officer motions to an ambulance at a checkpoint in the Mecca region ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. The Islamic pilgrimage has been dramatically downsized this year with only a few thousand residents of Saudi Arabia permitted to take part due to concerns over the coronavirus. (Saudi Ministry of Media)

Pilgrims arrive in Mecca for downsized hajj amid pandemic

By AYA BATRAWY - Associated Press

In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo taken with slow shutter speed, Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the hajj pilgrimage in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia says this year’s hajj will not be canceled, but that due to the coronavirus only “very limited numbers” of people will be allowed to perform the major Muslim pilgrimage. The kingdom said Monday, June 22, 2020, that only people of various nationalities already residing in the country would be allowed to perform the hajj. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

Saudi Arabia: Hajj will see at most ‘thousands’ due to virus

By Aya Batrawy - Associated Press