The Hajj plans for this year 1443 AH succeeded in all areas of security, service, and health, and without any accidents or pandemic cases recorded among the pilgrims, praise to God.
This was accomplished with the financial capabilities and development projects provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the human cadres serving the pilgrims and providing all means for them to perform their rituals in security, safety, reverence, and tranquility.
The Hajj season this year is exceptional, as it is the largest divine gathering since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 and the first in which pilgrims are received from aboard, as the total number of pilgrims rose to one million after two years of restricting the pilgrimage to only limited numbers from the Kingdom due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many facts and figures reflect the huge efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alongside its various agencies toward the pilgrims, which was expressed by the pilgrims of different colors, sects, and countries in their statements reported by the international media, and what we, the Ministry of Information guests, witnessed in the providence of all the facilities prepared for us to perform our rituals in the best and most beautiful way…
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has developed and used smart robotic technologies to serve the pilgrims and improve the Hajj system. During last year’s Hajj, a robot was introduced to distribute Zamzam water, a fatwa robot, and a sterilization robot.
The General Presidency of Haramain, provided in this year’s Hajj a robot to distribute the Quran to pilgrims inside the Grand Mosque while performing the farewell tawaf… The Presidency has also provided an AI robot with six languages to measure the satisfaction of visitors to the Grand Mosque and the provided services, which contributes to the advancement of services and business governance in all its forms… The project of translating the sermon on the Day of Arafa into 14 languages also succeeded. The sermon reached over two hundred million followers around the world, for the first time in the history of the project.
It also established a health system consisting of more than 230 health facilities across all health sectors to provide services to the pilgrims… The Minister of Health revealed that the number of pilgrims who received health care reached about (130,000), 10 open-heart surgeries were performed, and more than (187) cardiac catheterizations were performed.
In addition to (447) dialysis sessions and providence of virtual care services through the Virtual Health Hospital to more than 2,000 pilgrims by over 25,000 health practitioners and 2,000 volunteers.
We were able to throw the three Jamarat on the “second days of Tashreeq” with ease and comfort, afterward, we the hurried pilgrims, headed to Masjid al-Haram to perform the farewell ‘tawaf’.
The path of pilgrims to the ‘Jamarat’ facility and Makkah Al-Mukarramah for the performance of the farewell ‘tawaf’ was easy; as we departed from Arafat and we pronounced Allah’s name at the sacred site with ease and peace of mind…
We were, then, in a divine place among the millions of pilgrims who performed Hajj and came from all sides, the young with the old, one testifying of others’ faith as it did not lessen one’s value no matter what.
The city residents also met with their neighbors from other countries in divine unity, understanding, and harmony that cannot be described… This is a miraculous power that was prevalent in a million pilgrims this year and in exceptional global circumstances.
We were among the Ministry of Information guests that presented a bright image of all aspects of organizing the Hajj and offered the pilgrims a welcome that was second to none and services worthy of its reputation and the reputation of its officials who used to walk and follow the rituals themselves with dedication and sincerity.
We were in the company of people we did not know and did not prepare for their meeting in advance, and there were media colleagues with me from the east and west of the globe, and we had hours of remembrance and endless conversations and we prayed together and in the presence of pilgrims from dozens of countries.
We witnessed the Islamic religion’s strength and greatness in accordance with the foundation of faith, values, principles, and ethics, represented in the Almighty’s saying: “So know that there is no god but Allah.” And what falls under it of values, principles, standards, controls, and morals, and all the prophets came to talk about this basic foundation in the divine succession approach, from Adam, peace be upon him, to Noah, Ibrahim, Mousa, then Jesus, until it finished with Prophet Mohamed may God’s blessings and peace be upon him….
As we were performing the farewell ‘tawaf’ around the Kaaba, which included crowds of pilgrims, we saw scenes of what seemed like a garden of various flowers, where the pilgrims raised their different colored umbrellas for protection against the sun that appeared from the highest floors surrounding the Kaaba as if it were a delightful garden for the viewers… An acceptable pilgrimage, a commendable endeavor, and a forgiven sin for all the House of God pilgrims.
Translated by Yara Sameh
