Landmark hajj: first full pilgrimage following COVID

Millions of Muslims from around the world have started converging this week on Mecca in Saudi Arabia to begin the several days of rituals at holy sites in and around the city.

  • Iraqi pilgrims are heading to Mecca for Haj, the holiest place in Islam, at the Baghdad Airport in Baghdad, Iraq, 7 June 2023 (image: AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
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    A dream come true: at 64, Huda Zaqqout is finally going on hajj. Now, after an easing of Saudi policy, more women pilgrims can participate without a “mahram”, or a male relative to escort them. It’s serendipitous timing for Zaqqout, who has waited years for this opportunity, and whose sons cannot afford to make the long trip from Gaza to Mecca
  • Relatives of Huda Zaqqout wave to say goodbye as she leaves Gaza City for the Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, 13 June 2023 (image: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
    A hard life: Huda Zaqqout says that, although she has raised 10 children on her own in the conflict-wracked Gaza Strip, her life feels miraculous because she is surrounded by her family, including 30 grandchildren. Many of them came to see her off on her pilgrimage to Mecca
  • Huda Zaqqout, second left, walks with her relatives as she leaves Gaza City for the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 13 June 2023 (image: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
    Gruelling trip for Gazan pilgrims: Huda Zaqqout will travel with a group of women, all over 60. Yet the journey won't be easy. The tiny Mediterranean coastal territory has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007. Travel is a bureaucratic nightmare. The bus ride to Cairo airport takes at least 15 hours and sometimes twice that due to checkpoint controls
  • Husin bin Nisan, right, hugs relatives as he bids farewell prior to his departure for the hajj pilgrimage at his house in Tangerang, Indonesia, 6 June 2023 (image: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
    Years of saving: 85-year-old Husin bin Nisan is a "Pak Ogah", a volunteer traffic warden found across Indonesia. For more than 30 years, he has directed traffic in a poor village called Peusar, living off tips equivalent to a few dollars a day. The whole time, he has saved for his dream. It's been a wait of more than 15 years, but finally Husin is going on the hajj
  • Husin bin Nisan, center, with other worshippers, prepares to wear a special garb called "ihram," typically worn during hajj pilgrimage, prior to a hajj rehearsal in Tangerang, Indonesia, Monday, May 15, 2023. After spending more than three decades picking tips from motorists, the 85-year-old volunteer traffic attendant is finally realizing his dream to go to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina for hajj pilgrimage (image: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
    A test of patience: Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has a staggeringly long line of citizens wanting to go on hajj; wait times can last decades. It lengthened even more when Saudi Arabia barred foreign pilgrims in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Husin bin Nisan, center, prays during a hajj rehearsal in Tangerang, Indonesia, Monday, May 15, 2023. After spending more than three decades picking tips from motorists, the 85-year-old volunteer traffic attendant is finally realizing his dream to go to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina for hajj pilgrimage (image: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
    Off to Mecca: in early June, Husin packed his suitcase, including his "ihram," the white robe that all male pilgrims wear. Then he put on his best clothes and said goodbye to his family and friends. He began his journey. "Now, I could die in peace at any time because God has answered my prayer"
  • Abbas Bazzi gives directions to a chef at Le Marché Bio, the organic cafe and grocery store he co-owns, in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 30, 2023. Bazzi, who grew up in a secular family but was interested in Islam from an early age, hopes to travel to the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for his fourth Hajj pilgrimage this month (image: AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
    Not your typical pilgrim: with his long hair pulled back in a bun, Abbas Bazzi is co-owner of an organic cafe and grocery in Beirut's trendy Badaro neighborhood. He sells sugar-free smoothies and vegan shawarma sandwiches. He teaches conscious breathing classes, practices reiki healing and does yoga
  • Abbas Bazzi prepares drinks at Le Marché Bio, the organic cafe and grocery store he co-owns, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Bazzi, who grew up in a secular family but was interested in Islam from an early age, hopes to travel to the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for his fourth Hajj pilgrimage this month (image: AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
    An alternative approach: while others find the way he blends meditation and yoga with Islam strange, Bazzi maintains that they are complementary. Some people may think that a hajj pilgrim should look different or pray more conspicuously, he said, but "I made a decision in my life that all of my life will be in service to the divine project”
  • Muslim family member Saadiha Khaliq holds material which she read in preparing for her upcoming trip to hajj, pictured Wednesday, June. 7, 2023, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Khaliq family are planning to travel together to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for hajj, the pilgrimage which every adult Muslim who can afford it and is physically able, must make at least once in his or her lifetime. The hajj is the fifth of the fundamental Muslim practices and institutions known as the Five Pillars of Islam (image: AP Photo/Jo
    The honour of being invited: a wave of emotions washed over 41-year-old Pakistani-American Saadiha Khaliq as she reflected on the spiritual significance of her upcoming pilgrimage to Mecca, more than 11,000 kilometres from her home in the U.S. state of Tennessee. "You just hope that you're worthy of that honour and that it's accepted from you"
  • Muslim family members Saadiha, seated, Saeeda, and Abdul Khaliq, right, gather around a computer which they use to research for their hajj trip, pictured Wednesday, June. 7, 2023, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Khaliq family are planning to travel together to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for hajj, pilgrimage which every adult Muslim who can afford it and is physically able must make at least once in his or her lifetime. The hajj is the fifth of the fundamental Muslim practices and institutions known as the Five Pillar
    A pure heart: as part of her preparations, Khaliq is trying to go in with a clean slate, from clearing financial obligations to making amends and seeking forgiveness from family members or friends whom she might have had issues with. "It's very hard to stand there [in Mecca], if there's negativity in your heart ... if you made space for things that are resentment or anger"