Hajj 2025: Movable shades to protect pilgrims at Arafat from heat

Cairo: For the first time, Saudi authorities have installed canopies with movable sunshades near the Mount Arafat where pilgrims converge annually for the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The state-of-the-art canopies are designed to protect the pilgrims from intense heat on the Day of Arafat due this year on June 5.

The opening and closing time of the sunshade does not exceed 150 seconds with each canopy consisting of a 20-metre-long front arm and an 11-metre-long rear arm, reported the Saudi television Al Ekhbariya.

The project is implemented at the holy places for the first time to protect the pilgrims from exposure to the sun and heat stress, the report said.

The canopy is supported by columns, each is 14 meters long and is equipped with automatic motors. 

The umbrellas are also fitted with mist fans to moderate heat at the site, a vast plain about 20 kilometres near the Saudi holy city of Mecca. 

Security cameras have been installed to monitor potentially risky human crowding under the umbrellas and handle the situation smoothly.

More than 1.1 million Muslims from all over the world have already arrived  in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj rites that will peak next Thursday amid high temperatures.

Earlier this week, a Saudi religious official said the duration of the Friday sermon and ensuing prayers in Islam's two holiest mosques will be shortened during the current Hajj pilgrimage season to ease impact of the searing heat on the faithful.

Head of the Presidency for Religious Affairs of the Tw Holy Mosques, Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Sudais, said the time between the call to prayer and the second call to prayer will be 5-10 minutes for all prayers, and the Friday sermon and prayers will not exceed 15 minutes.

Al Sudais also attributed the measure to the huge crowding in the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina due to the influx of pilgrims during the Hajj season and keenness to protect them from sunstroke, heat stress, and exhaustion.

This year's Hajj will be the last to occur during peak summer heat for the next 16 years. Starting 2026, due to the Islamic lunar calendar, the pilgrimage will gradually shift into cooler seasons—first spring, then winter.