Defying high costs, Muslim pilgrims head to Mecca for haj

A basic view reveals camping tents real estate Muslims pilgrims in Mina, near Islam’s holy city of Mecca, on June 26, 2023 throughout the yearly Hajj expedition.|Picture Credit: AFP Palestinian pilgrim Abu Anas Abu Rahal was wishing to discover less expensive accommodations for a week-long remain in Islam’s holiest websites in Saudi Arabia, as the minimum expense for the haj expedition reached 26,000 riyals ($7,000) this year. His alternatives were restricted. The 65-year-old had a hard time to foot the bill in spite of selecting the cheapest-offered bundle, that included taking a trip to Saudi Arabia by land and sharing hotel spaces with other pilgrims. “I was requesting a 4th alternative, with a further hotel which might be half more affordable. The costs and the options that have actually been offered are humiliating to be sincere,” Abu Rahal stated, including that pilgrims in 2015 paid the very same rate for a plan that consisted of flights. “For the sake of the holy mosque and seeing the Kaaba … whatever deserves it, however the financial conditions are truly difficult,” he included. Abu Rahal was among more than 2 million haj pilgrims anticipated to go to the 2023 expedition season today in Mecca and Medina, defying international inflation and greater rates for haj services. Authorities in the kingdom stated more than 1.6 million pilgrims had actually currently shown up for the expedition since Sunday. The event formally begins on Tuesday. Haj, a when-
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