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About one million Muslims completed the traditional Hajj in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the Anadolu Agency reported.

They performed the appropriate rituals. 

The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba in Mecca, is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Muslims are obliged to perform it at least once in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites of Mecca and Medina, allowed foreign travelers this year to perform the Hajj.

Only a few thousand Saudi citizens and residents have attended the annual pilgrimage over the past two years as COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the global economy and curtailed travel.

Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha

But officials said only one million people could join the 2022 season, less than half of pre-pandemic levels.

Access is limited to pilgrims between the ages of 18 and 65 who have been fully vaccinated or immunized against the virus and do not suffer from chronic illnesses.

Over the years, the kingdom has spent billions of dollars to make one of the world's largest religious gatherings safer.

In 2019, the last year before the pandemic hit, about 2.6 million people performed the Hajj, while about 19 million participated in the Umrah, another form of pilgrimage to Mecca that, unlike the Hajj, can be performed at any time per year.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's economic reform plan aims to increase Umrah and Hajj capacity to 30 million pilgrims a year and generate 50 billion riyals ($13.32 billion) in revenue by 2030.

Muslims

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