‘Everybody is worried’: Saudi Arabia considers cancelling annual Hajj for first time in centuries because of coronavirus

Kingdom asks the pious to hold off on booking trips to Mecca, Borzou Daragahi reports

Worshippers circle the the sacred Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque on 7 March this year (above) and 13 August last year (below) (AFP/Getty)

Saudi Arabia has urged the pious to reconsider making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca this year, raising the possibility that the coronavirus pandemic will cause the first cancellation of the Hajj in centuries.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Muhammad Saleh bin Taher Banten, counselled “patience” among Muslims worldwide in considering pilgrimages to the kingdom this year until the impact of the coronavirus becomes clearer.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is prepared to secure the safety of all Muslims and nationals,” he told state television on Tuesday. “That’s why we have requested from all Muslims around the world to hold off on signing any agreements [with tour operators] until we have a clear vision.”

Pilgrimages to holy sites in the Muslim world are big business. Tour operators, hoteliers and airlines profit from the piety of the faithful to the tune of billions of dollars a year. Experts previously estimated that Saudi Arabia would take in $150bn in revenue from the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina by 2022.

Muslims are encouraged to perform the Hajj or ritual pilgrimage to the shrine of the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca during the final month of the Islamic calendar at least once in their lifetime. The pious also frequently visit Mecca during other parts of the year in what is called the Umrah. People book trips nearly a year in advance and prepare for the pilgrimage months ahead.

“I would be shattered. For more than half my life, I have been on Hajj. It is truly something unthinkable for me at this point,” said Abdur Rahman Laily, a veteran Hajj tour guide from South Africa who has been taking groups for the past two decades. “It can’t be cancelled; it is a guiding principle of Islam.”

News of a possible cancellation or delay of the Hajj, which is scheduled this year for late July, followed accusations by a Turkish official that Riyadh contributed to the coronavirus pandemic by neglecting to disclose an outbreak among pilgrims this year.

“Saudi Arabia did not inform us or the world about any cases,” Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu told a news channel late last week.

A group of up to 10,000 pilgrims returning to Turkey from Saudi Arabia in early March are believed to have seeded the coronavirus in parts of the country. Many were asked to go into isolation, but some disobeyed guidelines and re-entered their communities. At least 214 people in Turkey have died of Covid-19, with at least 13,000 confirmed cases across the nation.

Egypt’s health ministry urged pilgrims returning from Umrah to quarantine for two weeks, while Yemen insisted that citizens returning from Saudi pilgrimages would be forced to undergo isolation.

At least 1,200 pilgrims are stuck in Mecca, staying in hotels for fear they might be carrying the coronavirus, said Mr Banten.

Pilgrims returning to their communities from Mecca are frequently showered with affection and embraces: behaviours that epidemiologists say contribute to the spread of viral infections.

Saudi Arabia has already temporarily suspended Umrah this year in an effort to contain any potential spread of the the coronavirus. Tour operators said that many companies were still coming to terms with that decision, with Umrah pilgrimages usually becoming particularly busy during the month of Ramadan, which is due to start this year on 23 April. They have yet to process the possibility that the Hajj might not go ahead either.

“It’s too early to say what the effect will be,” said the manager of one Hajj tour organiser in London. He asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press by his employer. “But obviously everybody is worried.”

Saudi Arabia has also temporarily barred anyone from entering or exiting Mecca and Medina, the two cities associated with the Hajj, and imposed a nationwide night-time curfew. At least 10 people have died of Covid-19 in the kingdom and 1,563 infections have been reported, according to the World Health Organisation.

Mr Laily said companies are bracing to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars each in revenue. His organisation has already had to cancel all their Umrah tours; during Ramadan alone, they take groups of 50 people every week to Mecca.

“Because Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, there is a sense of hope for a miracle this year and so people have not cancelled yet,” he continued. “That said, we have had to recommend those who are sick and immuno-suppressed to consider pushing back a year.”

Cancelling the Hajj is rare but would not be unprecedented. Historians say that it has been cancelled or delayed dozens of times throughout history because of wars or disease, most recently during the late 18th-century at the time of Napoleon's conquest of Egypt.

Additional reporting by Bel Trew