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.
The biog
Hobby: "It is not really a hobby but I am very curious person. I love reading and spend hours on research."
Favourite author: Malcom Gladwell
Favourite travel destination: "Antigua in the Caribbean because I have emotional attachment to it. It is where I got married."
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
