Read the latest updates on the Hajj pilgrimage here.
It is remarkable that as many Muslims have performed Hajj this century as the likely total number for the first thousand years of the annual pilgrimage.
About one million people will travel to Makkah this year, after two coronavirus-affected years that reduced numbers to a few thousand.
On average, about two million faithful have made the journey to the holy city from all over the world every year for Hajj in the 21st century.
Hundreds of years ago, it was a very different experience. Precise records are hard to come by, but observers speak of about 20,000 to 60,000 making the pilgrimage in medieval times and for much of the Ottoman Empire period.
For centuries, the route to Makkah was difficult and dangerous. Pilgrims would join huge caravans leaving from Cairo and Damascus, for a journey that would take weeks or even months. Travelling in a large group reduced the likelihood of being murdered or robbed by bandits and thieves who preyed on pilgrims, but it was no protection from death by disease, thirst or starvation.
Returning to Damascus in 1757, a Bedouin raid left an estimated 20,000 dead on the border with what is now Jordan. To participate in Hajj, a duty in Islam then as now, was no guarantee of returning home alive.
Even Makkah had its dangers. A cholera outbreak in 1865 is estimated to have killed 15,000 out of 90,000 pilgrims.
By the end of the 19th century, steam ships and railways were transforming the route. The Hejaz Railway was built by the Ottomans to link Istanbul with Madinah and to cement their control of the holy cities.
The first known photographs of Hajj were taken in 1861 by Muhammad Sadiq Bey, an Egyptian army engineer. Between 1886 and 1889 more than 250 photographs were taken by Abd Al Ghaffar, a resident of Makkah, including images of pilgrims.
First published in Germany, they show a city little changed for hundreds of years. Old houses look down from the hills on the colonnades of the Grand Mosque and the kiswa-shrouded Kaaba.
Even by the early 20th century, little had changed. But the advent of air travel and fast passenger jets transformed Hajj. A journey of many weeks was now just a few hours in air-conditioned comfort.
Photos from the 1960s show Makkah and the Grand Mosque almost overwhelmed by the number of pilgrims. By the 1980s, nearly a million were coming every year.
Over the past 60 years, the Saudi Arabian government has greatly expanded the Grand Mosque, most notably beginning in 2008. The mosque’s capacity has been increased from 700,000 to 2.5 million, with Kaaba now surrounded by elevated walkways.
More minarets were added, raising the total to 11, the mosque itself was expanded to become multilevel, to accommodate more worshippers in a safer way. Air conditioning, drainage and heated floors for the winter months were installed between 1988 and 2005.
In 2012, the Abraj Al Bait project was completed, with seven high-rise hotels overlooking the mosque, and dominated by the 601-metre Makkah Clock Royal Tower.
That year a record 3.5 million pilgrims attended Hajj, leading to the authorities limiting numbers for the following years.
There have been other improvements. The tents for pilgrims, once scattered around the Mina area, are now air-conditioned and marked by pathways.
The Jamarat pillars, where the Devil is ritually stoned, have been replaced by walls to reduce overcrowding, while the bridge around them has been widened.
Even so, this part of Hajj has remained the most dangerous. Since the 1990s, at least 3,000 pilgrims have died in the crush surrounding the stoning.
Officials must constantly balance the desire of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims to attend Hajj with the practically of how many they can safely accommodate.
Since 2020, this task has been made even more challenging by the pandemic. This year, one million pilgrims will arrive in Makkah, most at the Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport, which for a few days each year can process 80,000 people at one time — four times as many Dubai International, the world’s busiest.
For each of those pilgrims, though, the spiritual journal is as intensely personal as it was almost 1,500 years ago.
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHayvn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Flinos%2C%20Ahmed%20Ismail%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efinancial%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2044%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseries%20B%20in%20the%20second%20half%20of%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHilbert%20Capital%2C%20Red%20Acre%20Ventures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
Uefa Champions League last 16 draw
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
Basel v Manchester City
Sevilla v Manchester United
Porto v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
Chelsea v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Besiktas