FILE PHOTO: Muslim pilgrims wearing face masks and keeping social distance perform Tawaf around Kaaba during the annual Haj pilgrimage amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia July 31, 2020. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

International

First batch of umrah pilgrims reaches Saudi Arabia today

Saudi Arabia has allowed vaccinated foreigners to perform Umrah

Javed Mahmood

Published

August 16, 2021

The first group of foreign Umrah pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday after a temporary ban to curb the spread of COVID-19 was lifted.

Pilgrims were greeted with gifts of dates, roses and Zam Zam water on arrival at the Kingdom’s airports.

Umrah pilgrims from abroad are required to present a certificate on arrival that has been validated in their home country and states details of them receiving a COVID-19 jab that is approved by the Kingdom.

They must also adhere to quarantine measures if they are coming from countries where there is a ban on direct entry to the Kingdom.

The deputy minister of Hajj and Umrah, Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman Mashat, said that all Saudi Umrah companies have been preparing to serve foreign pilgrims and are dedicated to providing the best services to the pilgrims from the point of arrival till departure.

The Kingdom has approved vaccines made by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

In this article:first batch, roses and dates, Saudi Arabia, Umrah pilgrims, Zam Zam

Written By Javed Mahmood

I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.