Saudi Arabia extends Hajj housing deadline

Cairo: A Saudi committee in charge of housing Hajj pilgrims in Mecca has extended a deadline until next week for issuing permits for houses to accommodate the faithful, the Saudi news agency SPA has reported.

The panel has called on landlords interested in renting out their houses for this purpose to check with accredited engineering offices to finalise related permits.

The committee, setting the deadline until the end of the Islamic month of Shaaban later next week, said it continues to receive such applications from engineering offices accredited by Mecca’s municipality and civil defence, which examine will those buildings to ensure they meet the required conditions, SPA added.

As part of the process, the committee has called on landlords interested in renting out their houses for accommodating pilgrims to comply with all safety requirements and come forward to get permits as soon as possible.

Hajj, one of Islam’s five obligatory duties, is due to start in late June this year in holy sites in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has said that the minimum age for performing this year’s Hajj pilgrimage is 12 years as the numbers of pilgrims will return to the pre-pandemic times.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj has also pointed out that priority for registering to undertake this year’s pilgrimage will be given to Muslims who did not do it before.

The kingdom has said there will be no limits on the numbers of pilgrims from around the world for the upcoming Hajj season, reversing earlier restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years.

In the past two years, Saudi Arabia downsized the numbers of Muslims allowed to perform the Hajj rites to prevent spread of COVID-19. Around 2.5 million Muslims used to attend Hajj annually in the pre-pandemic times.

Muslims, who can physically and financially afford Hajj, have to perform it at least once in a lifetime.