Makkah
\nHundreds of thousands of Muslims have flocked to the Saudi holy city of Makkah for the Hajj pilgrimage, as the religious festivities of Zil Hajj commenced last week.
\nOne of the world\u2019s largest annual religious gatherings officially begins Friday, and the officials in Saudi Arabia are trying to keep the focus on prayers.
\nThe Saudi minister in charge of religious pilgrimages, Tawfiq al-Rabiah, warned last week that \u201cno political activity\u201d will be tolerated.
\nThe Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.
\nAs of late Monday around 1.5 million pilgrims had arrived in the oil-rich country from abroad, most of them by air, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
\nLast year saw more than 1.8 million people complete the hajj rites, which last for several days. Around 90% came from overseas, mainly from elsewhere in the Arab world and from Asia, according to official figures.
\nIsrael\u2019s withering military operations against Hamas militants in Gaza have \u201ccreated a lot of anger in [the] broader Muslim world\u201d, turning this year\u2019s hajj into a \u201ctest\u201d for Saudi leaders, said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.
\n\u201cProtest or performance is bound to happen by individuals or groups of pilgrims, and Saudis understand this is a slippery slope,\u201d he said. \u201cThus for Saudi rulers conducting hajj is a matter of prestige but also a test of their governance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Makkah Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have flocked to the Saudi holy city of Makkah for the Hajj pilgrimage, as the religious festivities of Zil Hajj commenced last week. One of the world\u2019s largest annual religious gatherings officially begins Friday, and the officials in Saudi Arabia are trying to keep the focus on prayers. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-412557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n