Manama: Saudi Arabia will increase the number of people who can perform Haj this year as the holy sites are now better prepared to receive more pilgrims.
The move revokes a decision taken in 2013 that reduced Haj quota by 20 per cent for each country.
The decision to revoke quota reduction was taken after a proposal by Crown Prince and President of the Supreme Haj Committee Mohammad Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to return to the pre-2013 numbers, Saudi daily Okaz reported on Thursday.
Prince Mohammed had instructed the government departments to take all necessary measures and to draw the appropriate plans to receive the higher numbers of pilgrims from abroad and from inside the kingdom, the daily added.
Saudi Arabia decided to reduce the number of people, who could perform Haj. during the extension work at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.
Haj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is usually performed by up to three million Muslims who gather in and around Makkah for a minimum of five days.
Saudi officials said that that the Grand Mosque could accommodate 48,000 pilgrims per hour before the construction work started.
However, during the construction work, the Masjid Al Haram’s capacity was reduced to 20,000 pilgrims per hour.
A new Haj quota was also imposed on Saudis and all the foreigners who lived in the kingdom, reducing their numbers by 50 per cent. The authorities also banned anyone from performing Haj more than once in five years.
Every Muslim country has a Haj quota of 1,000 pilgrims per million inhabitants and the biggest contingent comes from Indonesia.
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