Hajj officials says all preparations completed to welcome pilgrims

Mohammed Saleh Benten, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Hajj and Umrah, welcomes Pakistani Umrah pilgrims at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on November 30, 2020. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 24 June 2021
Follow

Hajj officials says all preparations completed to welcome pilgrims

  • Due to pandemic, only 60,000 pilgrims will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage as registration is only open to citizens and residents of the Kingdom
  • Officials have completed organizational, service, and health preparations to provide the best services to pilgrims at Grand Mosque in Makkah

JEDDAH: Officials in Saudi Arabia said they have completed all the organizational, service, and health preparations to provide the best services to pilgrims upon their arrival at the Grand Mosque in Makkah during this year’s Hajj season, which will begin mid-July.

The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said that all field and administrative agencies and departments are working to improve the outputs of business and services through pre-prepared plans and programs.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Ministries of Health and Hajj announced earlier this month that a total of 60,000 pilgrims will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage this year as registration is only open to citizens and residents of the Kingdom.

Authorities will take into account COVID-19 health requirements to preserve public health and safety while also facilitating the performance of rituals and worship in the Grand Mosque.

Those wishing to perform Hajj must be free of any chronic diseases, and be within the ages of 18 to 65 years for those vaccinated against the virus, according to the Kingdom’s vaccination measures. 

Hajj pilgrims should be fully vaccinated, or those who took one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before, or those who are vaccinated after recovering from coronavirus infection.


Deal to boost Arab research cooperation

Updated 50 min 15 sec ago
Follow

Deal to boost Arab research cooperation

RIYADH: The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies has signed a supplementary memorandum of cooperation with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization to strengthen collaboration in education, culture, science, heritage and knowledge.

The appendix builds on an earlier agreement and aims to deepen institutional partnership in intellectual, cultural and scientific research, with a focus on programs linked to the Arabic Narrative project launched by the center three years ago.

It was signed at a ceremony attended by Prince Turki bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the King Faisal Center, and ALECSO Director-General Mohamed Ould Amar, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The agreement reflects both sides’ commitment to high-quality cooperation drawing on the King Faisal Center’s research expertise and ALECSO’s role in advancing Arab culture and knowledge.

Under the memorandum, the two parties will organize specialized scientific and cultural seminars and conferences related to the Arabic narrative.

The cooperation also includes in-depth research on the trajectories of Arab thought and its links to global knowledge, while enriching the initiative’s cultural content through expertise in history, language, heritage and interdisciplinary studies.

Both institutions aim to foster a research environment that produces rigorous scholarship to strengthen the Arab narrative and present it to regional and international audiences.

The agreement also provides for the establishment of the “ALECSO Chair at the King Faisal Center for Arab-Islamic Studies,” marking a new phase of collaboration.