Hajj 2021: Saudi Arabia releases names of select applicants on Friday

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has said that the names of applicants who have been selected to perform Hajj this year will be released on Friday June 25, 2021.

According to the ministry, 60,000 domestic pilgrims, including citizens and residents, will be selected out of about 540,000 applicants who have applied through the ministry’s electronic track for the annual pilgrimage.

The ministry clarified that there will be no priority for those who made early registration, and that booking and purchasing packages of Hajj will start at 1 p.m. on Friday.

“Registration for those wishing to perform this year’s Hajj rituals has been limited to only citizens and residents who are currently inside the Kingdom,” the report reads.

Meanwhile, Ministry stated that the limiting of registration for a total of 60,000 pilgrims from among citizens and residents inside Saudi Arabia was as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the emergence of new variants in various parts of the world.

It underlined that those wishing to perform Hajj rituals shall be free from chronic diseases, and to be within the age groups between 18 and 65 years.

It reiterated that pilgrims will be inoculated against coronavirus, in accordance with the controls and mechanisms followed in the Kingdom for the immunization categories.

The ministry said that innoculation will involve taking of two doses of vaccine or completing 14 days after taking the first dose or having recovered from the disease.

Hajj in Islam, is the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim 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.