HAJJ

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Saudi Arabia announces new amendments to Umrah visa rules

The new policy will come into effect next week


Umrah visa to be cancelled if unused after 30 days

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has introduced new amendments to Umrah visa regulations, reducing the validity of the entry visa from three months to one month from the date of issuance. However, the validity period for stay after a pilgrim’s arrival in the Kingdom remains unchanged at three months, according to sources quoted by Al Arabiya. The new policy will come into effect next week.

Visa cancelled if unused after 30 days

Under the revised rules, the Umrah visa will be automatically cancelled 30 days after issuance if the pilgrim does not register to enter Saudi Arabia within that period. The move is intended to streamline visa management and ensure smooth entry processes for pilgrims.

Steps to manage growing pilgrim numbers

Ahmed Bajaeifer, adviser to the National Committee for Umrah and Visit, told Al Arabiya that the decision forms part of the ministry’s preparations for an expected surge in Umrah pilgrims — particularly with the end of summer and cooler weather in Makkah and Madinah. The aim is to prevent overcrowding in the two holy cities.

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Record-breaking Umrah season

According to Saudi Gazette, more than four million Umrah visas have been issued to international pilgrims since the start of the new Umrah season in early June. This marks a record number within just five months, surpassing figures from previous seasons.

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All visa types now valid for Umrah

Last month, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah confirmed that holders of all visa types — including personal, family visit, electronic tourist, transit, and work visas — are now eligible to perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia.

The ministry said the move, reported by the Saudi Press Agency, is part of efforts to simplify procedures for pilgrims and expand access to Umrah services in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

Nusuk Umrah platform

The ministry also highlighted the Nusuk Umrah platform, which allows users to book packages, obtain permits electronically, and choose timings flexibly. The integrated system is part of ongoing efforts to make performing Umrah easier and more accessible for Muslims worldwide.

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Saudi Arabia introduces new Hajj transport rules; fines up to SR100,000 ($27,000) | World News - The Times of India

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... aign=cppst

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Saudi Arabia suspends 1,800 Umrah travel agencies due to poor performance



Pilgrims with valid visas or existing bookings will not be affected, and services will continue uninterrupted

Saudi Arabia suspended the contracts of 1,800 foreign travel agencies, out of approximately 5,800 operating in the Umrah sector, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Sunday.

The ministry gave the affected agencies a 10-day grace period to address deficiencies found during the periodic evaluation, which showed shortcomings in performance and service quality.

According to the ministry, the suspension applies only to new visa issuance and is part of a regulatory approach to help agencies address issues and improve compliance with approved standards. Contracts will be reactivated once the requirements are met within the grace period.

The Ministry emphasised that pilgrims with valid visas or existing bookings will not be affected, and services will continue uninterrupted.


Ministry Spokesperson Ghassan Alnwaimi stated that regulatory action will be taken against any agency that fails to correct its deficiencies by the specified deadline. He said the ministry will continue to apply monitoring and evaluation tools to strengthen the reliability of the Umrah sector and safeguard pilgrims' rights.

Umrah agency rules

Umrah travel agencies must be officially authorised by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. All Umrah packages should be booked and verified through the Nusuk platform, so pilgrims have confirmed hotel bookings and approved transportation before they travel.

From 2026, agencies must strictly manage pilgrim documents, including passports with at least six months' validity, valid Umrah visas, and required health insurance. These steps help ensure compliance, safety, and a smoother pilgrimage for worshippers.

Umrah visa validity rules

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has reduced the entry validity of the Umrah visa to 30 days from the date of issuance. You must enter Saudi Arabia within one month of the visa being issued, or it will be cancelled and you must reapply.

Once you enter, the permitted stay remains up to 90 days, covering your pilgrimage and travel within the Kingdom.

Pilgrims must use the official Nusuk app to obtain an Umrah permit prior to entry. The app manages booking, scheduling time slots for rituals, and QR-code entry authorisation at the holy mosques. Without a valid Nusuk permit, entry to Masjid Al Haram or Masjid An Nabawi is not permitted.

Saudi Arabia now requires confirmed bookings linked to the visa application. This includes:

Accommodation (licensed hotels)

Ground transportation (airport transfers)

Flight tickets (round-trip)

No visa will be issued without a verified Booking Reference Number (BRN) showing all required bookings

Because the Umrah season must conclude before the Hajj season begins, the Saudi government has set firm cutoff dates for 2026. Missing these deadlines can result in entry denial or overstay penalties.

Last date for visa issuance: March 20, 2026


Final entry date for pilgrims: April 3, 2026


Mandatory exit date: April 18, 2026


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War in Iran Is Making the Hajj, the Muslim Pilgrimage, More Expensive

Soaring jet fuel prices stemming from the war, the government of India said, have forced it to hike hajj package prices for its citizens.


The end of last year’s hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Max Kim and Suhasini Raj
Suhasini Raj reported from New Delhi

May 1, 2026
For decades, the government of India, home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations, has set the cost of air travel incurred every year by the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that every able-bodied Muslim is expected to make at least once.

Now those prices are being rocked by the volatility in global energy markets caused by the war in Iran.

On Tuesday, the Indian government body that organizes hajj trips for its citizens and negotiates airfares with airlines announced that it was charging pilgrims an additional 10,000 rupees, roughly $105, for this year’s trip, citing the “prevailing situation in the Middle East.”

Global prices of jet fuel have risen by more than 70 percent since the first U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, according to the Platts Jet Fuel Price Index. Prompting its decision, the Haj Committee of India said in a statement, were “pressing requests from airlines” to increase the base fare by more than $400.

Despite government officials emphasizing that the increase falls short of the airlines’ asking price, political and religious leaders in the country have decried the decision as imposing unfair burdens on pilgrims for whom the hajj, which this year costs up to $4,300, represents a significant expense.

“It really affects the poor Muslims,” said Maulana Yasoob Abbas, general secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, a Muslim advocacy group. He added that many would-be pilgrims who work as day laborers or auto-rickshaw drivers must save for a lifetime in order to afford to go on the hajj.

Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of a political party based in Southern India, called for the increase to be withdrawn.

“This is just exploitation and nothing else,” Mr. Owaisi said in a social media post on Thursday.

In the past, like many countries with sizable Muslim populations, India provided hajj subsidies for pilgrims until abolishing them in 2018. The government nonetheless continues to negotiate with airlines to set fixed airfares for pilgrims traveling on its package. Last year, 122,422 pilgrims made the hajj from India, according to government data.

As one of Islam’s five pillars — the core practices that define the Muslim faith — the hajj is a holy trip to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that takes places once a year during a specific period of the Islamic calendar. This year’s hajj, the exact dates of which are determined by official sightings of the moon in Saudi Arabia, is expected to fall around late May.

Careful cross-border coordination is required every year to ensure that the pilgrimage, one of the largest human gatherings in the world, goes off without a hitch. At its zenith, almost 2 million pilgrims will pack into a site where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon. To manage overcrowding, Saudi Arabia imposes annual caps on the number of pilgrims each country can send.

Salma Parveen, 45, who lives in Lucknow, a city in northern India, said she was planning to be among them this year until hearing about the government’s price increase, which is almost equal to her monthly wage as a cafeteria cook at a university.

“I had started collecting money for a few years now,” she said. “It’s not subsidized anymore but now this hike is an additional burden for me. For this year, I have canceled my trip.”

Even in countries that have decided not to raise the price of their hajj trips, such as Indonesia, the rising price of jet fuel has nonetheless presented dilemmas for government coffers. The country is the largest Muslim nation in the world and has a hajj quota of 221,000 visitors a year, the largest.

President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia has made it clear that the country’s pilgrims will not have to shoulder additional costs for this year’s hajj.

At a parliamentary hearing last month, Mochamad Irfan Yusuf, the minister who oversees pilgrimages to Mecca, said the Indonesian government was weighing options to absorb the roughly $103 million in added costs this year’s hajj would incur, primarily from increases requested by airlines.

Muktita Suhartono contributed reporting from Jakarta, Indonesia.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/worl ... roid-share

[kmaherali]

Weather conditions at the Hajj going to be increasingly dangerous in the decades ahead: Study

Around 2050, the risks of extreme heat exposure are projected to intensify again, making future pilgrimages even more vulnerable to dangerous conditions

Ayesha Mirza
Published on:
08 May 2026, 2:40 am

Climate change is creating serious and growing risks for millions of pilgrims performing the Hajj, with extreme heat and humidity already pushing human physiological limits during the 2024 pilgrimage, according to a new study.

According to the findings, during several hours of the 2024 Hajj, heat stress conditions exceeded survivability thresholds even for young, healthy adults. In June 2024, the combined impact of heat and humidity created a period of approximately four consecutive hours during which prolonged outdoor exposure became potentially fatal without access to cooling or immediate relief.

The study presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) assembly 2026, has been prepared by a team from the Weather and Climate Services, Islamabad, Pakistan and Climate Analytics, Berlin, Germany respectively.

The paper emphasised that the weather conditions at the Hajj are going to be increasingly dangerous in the decades ahead.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Each year, millions of pilgrims travel to Makkah to carry out rituals that require prolonged walking in the sun. The Day of Arafat has been identified as the highest risk ritual since the whole day is spent outdoors in the open with minimal shade infrastructure. While some adaptations are already visible, including indoor performance of Sa’i and the construction of more permanent shelters and structures in Mina, these changes improve safety while also altering the traditional setting of the pilgrimage, according to a statement by the EGU.

During the 2024 Hajj, approximately 1,300 fatalities were reported. Despite this, the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plans to increase the number of pilgrims in the future, which raises serious concerns about increased exposure to extreme heat and humidity

The study authors note that future Hajj seasons will face a shifting climate pattern. Although the pilgrimage will occur during relatively cooler seasons for the next 20 to 30 years, it is expected to move back into hotter periods around 2050. At that point, the risks of extreme heat exposure are projected to intensify again, making future pilgrimages even more vulnerable to dangerous conditions.

The scientists have called for urgent adaptation and global climate mitigation. They further elaborated that mitigation is essential not only to protect pilgrims, but also to preserve the essence and traditional practice of Hajj itself. Although adaptation measures can reduce some of the danger, they cannot fully eliminate the threat if warming continues.

Climate change, the scientists said, is no longer an environmental issue but is also beginning to affect religious practices and mass gatherings worldwide.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate- ... head-study

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Saudi Arabia deploys 22,000 staff and 88,000 waste units for Hajj

More than 13,000 cleaners and 3,000 vehicles mobilised for Hajj


The operational plan includes more than 3,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment to strengthen emergency response capabilities and improve service efficiency.

Dubai: Saudi authorities have announced the completion of extensive preparations for this year’s Hajj season, deploying tens of thousands of workers, smart technologies and operational systems aimed at improving safety, cleanliness and services for pilgrims across the holy sites.

The preparations are part of an integrated operational plan overseen by multiple Saudi entities to enhance the experience of pilgrims arriving from around the world during the annual pilgrimage season.

According to official figures, more than 22,000 personnel have been deployed to serve pilgrims around the clock, while over 13,000 cleaning workers have been assigned to maintain hygiene standards across the holy sites and surrounding areas.

Authorities also announced the deployment of more than 88,000 waste units and 1,235 waste compactors as part of a broader waste-management system designed to maintain environmental cleanliness and reduce congestion in high-density areas.

The operational plan includes more than 3,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment to strengthen emergency response capabilities and improve service efficiency, alongside 66 municipal service centres distributed across key locations.

Saudi authorities said five permanent and mobile laboratories have also been activated to support food safety inspections and field monitoring operations, while more than 1.3 million samples are expected to be examined daily as part of preventive health and safety measures.

The preparations also feature several digital and smart initiatives under broader innovation and digital transformation programmes, including mobile laboratories, automated street cleaning systems, smart traps, compacting waste containers and cold asphalt technologies.

Meanwhile, the General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque announced that it has completed operational readiness plans for the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque ahead of the Hajj season.

The authority said interactive guidance systems and digital maps have been activated, while field guidance teams have been equipped with instant translation devices to assist pilgrims from different nationalities.

Authorities added that service systems have also been expanded to include Zamzam water distribution, carpeting, transport carts and facility maintenance, alongside continuous mechanisms to measure pilgrim satisfaction and improve operational performance.

According to the authority, the entire system is being managed through an integrated operational model focused on efficiency and preventive maintenance, supported by an engineering command and control centre tasked with monitoring performance and responding immediately to field situations during the Hajj season.

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[kmaherali]

A look at the Hajj pilgrimage and Eid al-Adha and their significance to Muslims around the world







BY MARIAM FAM
Updated 12:25 AM MDT, May 22, 2026

Once a year, large numbers of Muslim pilgrims converge in Saudi Arabia, uniting in religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj. While fulfilling a religious obligation, they immerse themselves in what can be a spiritual experience of a lifetime for them and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness and the erasure of past sins.

This year, the Hajj has been approaching against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related tensions and uncertainty in the Middle East.

Earlier in the year, travel chaos from the war ensnared some of the Muslims who were in Saudi Arabia performing “Umrah,” often referred to as the lesser or minor pilgrimage. Some were stranded and scrambled to find their way home.

Here’s a look at the annual Hajj pilgrimage and its significance to Muslims.

The Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam

The Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and involves a series of religious rituals. It’s required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it. Some Muslims make the journey more than once.

It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, in addition to the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

The annual Islamic pilgrimage cycles through the seasons

The Hajj occurs once a year during the lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar year. This year, the Hajj will officially start on Monday.

When the Hajj falls during the summer months, the intense heat can be especially challenging. Amid extreme high temperatures in 2024, more than 1,300 people died during Hajj, according to Saudi authorities. The country’s health minister said at the time that the vast majority of the fatalities were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances under the sun.

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A religious obligation and a spiritual experience

For pilgrims, performing the Hajj fulfills a religious obligation and is also a deeply spiritual experience. It’s seen as a chance to seek God’s forgiveness, to grow closer to God and to walk in the footsteps of prophets.

Communally, the Hajj unites Muslims of diverse races, ethnicities, languages and economic classes from around the world. It leaves many feeling unity, connection and humility. Pilgrims also show up with their own personal appeals, wishes and experiences.

Many pilgrims bring with them prayer requests from family and friends that they would like to be said on their behalf.

Some spend years hoping and praying to one day perform the Hajj or saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the trip.

Ahead of the journey, preparations may include packing various essentials for the demanding trip, seeking tips from those who’ve performed the pilgrimage before, attending lectures or consulting other educational material to prepare spiritually and physically.

Pilgrims perform a series of religious rituals

Pilgrims make the intention to perform the Hajj and they enter a state of “ihram.” Being in ihram includes abiding by certain rules and prohibitions. For instance, men are not to wear regular sewn or stitched clothes that encircle the body, such as shirts, during ihram. Instead, there are simple ihram cloth garments for men; scholars say the purpose is to discard luxuries and vanity, shed worldly status symbols and immerse the pilgrim in humility and devotion to God.

A spiritual highlight of the Hajj for many is standing on the plain of Arafat, where pilgrims praise God, plead for forgiveness and make supplications. Many raise their hands in worship with tears streaming down their faces.

Other rituals include performing “tawaf,” which involves circling the Kaaba in Mecca counterclockwise seven times. The Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure, is the focal point toward which Muslims face during their daily prayers from anywhere in the world.

Among other rituals, pilgrims retrace the path of Hagar, or Hajar, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim, known as Abraham to Jews and Christians. Muslims believe Hagar ran between two hills seven times searching for water for her son.

The Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha, or the “Feast of Sacrifice,” is the Islamic holiday that begins during the Hajj, on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja.

A joyous occasion celebrated by Muslims around the world, Eid al-Adha marks Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. During the holiday, Muslims slaughter sheep or cattle and distribute some meat to poor people.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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