AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Umrah season will start after the the Hajj season ends, Saudi authorities said.
Abdulfattah S. Mashat, the deputy minister of Hajj and Umrah, said on Friday that as soon as the Hajj pilgrimage ends and pilgrims leave Saudi Arabia, Umrah pilgrimage will resume.
The Saudi passport department said earlier in the day that it has employed all its capacities to facilitate the departure of Hajj pilgrims from the air, land and sea ports of the country.
Meanwhile Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said the country has already launched preparations for the next year’s Hajj.
He called on other countries to also start making preparations and be in contact with Saudi official to ensure good services for their pilgrims in the next year’s pilgrimage.
More than 1.6 million Muslims from outside Saudi Arabia took part in Hajj this year.
Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca that every able-bodied and financially able Muslim is obliged to undertake at least once during their lifetime.
Umrah refers to pilgrimage rites carried out in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina throughout the year, and is separate from the annual week-long Hajj.
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