Saudi Arabia Government Update About Umrah Pilgrimage | Monal Travels
Saudi Arabia,after suspending the small Muslim pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, a decision considered necessary but also potentially costly for its economy and its international projection.
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On Wednesday, the kingdom suspended the Cheap Umrah Packages, a small pilgrimage that can be done at any time of the year, generating uncertainty around the great pilgrimage of the Haj, an essential pillar of Islam, which must take place between the end of July and the end of August this year.
The country has also banned pilgrims from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the two main holy places in Islam.
These preventive measures come at a time when the Gulf countries fear the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, after having registered more than 150 infections.
In most cases, these are people returning from pilgrimages to Iran, one of the most important centers of the disease after China.
Authorities feared that the Umrah pilgrimage would become a source of contamination in Saudi Arabia, where five cases of coronavirus were confirmed.
Its suspension is in the same line as the preventive measures taken in other countries affected by the epidemic, including Saudi regional rivals, such as Iran, Qatar, or Turkey.
But Riyadh runs the risk of frustrating millions of faithful who wish to make the pilgrimage to the holy sites, a pillar of the kingdom's international legitimacy.
The country could also stop collecting the billions of dollars that this religious tourism brings it each year.
Many faithful from all over the world invest all their savings to make the little pilgrimage of Umrah.
For many, the suspension of Umrah represents a disaster, and the Indonesian embassy in Riyadh has appealed to the Saudi authorities to allow their citizens to continue their pilgrimage projects.