Annisa Essack | kzn@radioislam.org.za
26 June 2023 | 06:30 CAT
2 min read

Photo Credit: Gulf News

Hundreds of thousands of Hajj pilgrims walk around the Kaaba on Sunday afternoon to mark Tawaf Al-Qudum (Tawaf of Arrival), one of the obligatory rituals of Hajj, before they move on to the city of tents Mina, to mark the beginning of the annual pilgrimage of Hajj on Monday.

Other pilgrims had arrived in Makkah earlier, getting a head start to move on to Mina in the evening.

The Coordination Council for Companies and Establishments for Domestic Pilgrims have announced a strict directive aimed at domestic pilgrims to carry their digital cards on their phones and show them to the security authorities while entering Makkah and moving within the holy sites.

Saudi authorities said on Friday evening, more than 1.62 million pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia had already arrived.

The exact number of pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia has not yet been announced.

Last year, the total number of pilgrims who performed Hajj stood at 926,000, including 781,000 from abroad, two years after it was limited to a few thousand domestic pilgrims alone, due to the coronavirus pandemic.