Indian Muslims must receive a full set of Chinese coronavirus vaccinations before participating in this year’s Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Hajj Committee of India announced Thursday.
“The Hajj Committee of India (HCI) has said that no Indian Muslims shall be allowed to go for the annual Haj pilgrimage unless they have taken the two [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine doses,” the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported on April 16.
The CEO of the Hajj Committee of India, Maqsood Ahmed Khan, made the announcement on April 15, according to IANS. He advised Indian Muslims wishing to participate in this year’s Hajj to “take the first dose of the [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine on their own now so they can be administered the second dose before departure.”
The Hajj is tentatively scheduled to start on July 17. Saudi government officials have yet to officially confirm that the pilgrimage will take place or if people will need to receive coronavirus vaccines to participate in the event. Khan acknowledged this on Thursday, saying “there is no official communication on the status of the Hajj pilgrimage yet from the Saudi Arabian authorities so far and the entire process would be subject to their approval.”
Saudi Arabia imposed major restrictions on last year’s Hajj due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah allowed just 1,000 people to participate in the pilgrimage in 2020, a tiny fraction of the 2.5 million people who traveled from all over the world to participate in the 2019 Hajj. The Hajj is an obligatory Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest city. A Muslim must perform the Hajj once in his or her lifetime, finances and health permitting, according to the five pillars of Islam.
A minor Islamic pilgrimage known as the Umrah is not obligatory and may be performed any time of year. Saudi’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on April 5 that all pilgrims who wish to complete the Umrah this year must first be “immunized” against the Chinese coronavirus before they will be permitted to enter the holy city of Mecca or pray inside the city’s grand mosque.
“Only pilgrims who have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine at least 14 days prior to arrival in Mecca, or contracted and recovered from the Chinese coronavirus, are allowed to perform Umrah,” Breitbart News reported. “The mandate will go into effect on the first day of Ramadan, which is a month-long Islamic fasting holiday starting on April 12 this year.”