Hajj on Hold: Balancing Public Health and Religious Practice During COVID-19
Ruaim Muaygil, MD, PhD, King Saud University
The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in several unprecedented public health challenges. Reconciling public safety with individual religious freedom appears to be especially contentious. Saudi Arabia, a Muslim majority country with an increasingly devout population, presents a unique case study of how religious practice was necessarily restricted, and perhaps irrevocably changed, by the pandemic.
The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) implemented one of the swiftest, and arguably strictest, responses to the pandemic. The country entered a complete border lockdown mere days after the first case was reported, and enforced a nationwide weeks-long 24-hour curfew soon after. These maximum efforts to contain COVID-19 coincided with the holy month of Ramadan, a sacred time of deep reflection, devotion, and prayer. As mosques were shut down, prayers suspended, and communal gatherings prohibited, some Muslims were deeply affected by the inability to find comfort in collective religious practice, particularly at a time of heightened global uncertainty and fear.
As home to two of Islam’s holiest sites- the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madina- Saudi Arabia was also forced to balance its responsibility to public safety with its commitments to Muslims worldwide. The ban on international travel effectively restricted access to the country, and with it, access to the sacred sites. As COVID-19 cases soared globally, the Saudi government indefinitely suspended Umrah- a short ritual visit to the Grand Mosque. In the wake of these initiatives, international speculation intensified regarding Saudi Arabia’s plans for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The week-long ritual visit to Mecca and its surrounding holy sites is a once in a lifetime religious requirement for all Muslims, drawing around 2.5 million pilgrims each year. A month before Hajj was scheduled to begin, the Saudi government announced a symbolic and very limited Hajj, permitting only 1000 pilgrims and enforcing strict testing and quarantine, age and health limitations, and social distancing measures.
This paper traces the efforts of the Saudi MOH to honor and respect religious practice while ensuring public health and safety. It examines the rationales and ethical justifications utilized by the MOH to restrict and regulate religious freedom, including that of international visitors, in the face of growing worldwide attention. This paper also offers a glance into some of the ethical debates that took place within the Muslim community- both in Saudi Arabia and abroad-particularly in regards to limitations placed on Umrah and Hajj, some of which were critical in nature. Lastly, this work also explores the lessons learned in the process of honoring sacred practice while maintaining public health and navigating political diplomacy.
As Saudi Arabia slowly begins to ease pandemic restrictions, including limitations on mosque worship and visits to Mecca and Madina, it is salient to contemplate how religious practice was re-imagined in the past year, and how that transformation may necessarily be here to stay.
The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) implemented one of the swiftest, and arguably strictest, responses to the pandemic. The country entered a complete border lockdown mere days after the first case was reported, and enforced a nationwide weeks-long 24-hour curfew soon after. These maximum efforts to contain COVID-19 coincided with the holy month of Ramadan, a sacred time of deep reflection, devotion, and prayer. As mosques were shut down, prayers suspended, and communal gatherings prohibited, some Muslims were deeply affected by the inability to find comfort in collective religious practice, particularly at a time of heightened global uncertainty and fear.
As home to two of Islam’s holiest sites- the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madina- Saudi Arabia was also forced to balance its responsibility to public safety with its commitments to Muslims worldwide. The ban on international travel effectively restricted access to the country, and with it, access to the sacred sites. As COVID-19 cases soared globally, the Saudi government indefinitely suspended Umrah- a short ritual visit to the Grand Mosque. In the wake of these initiatives, international speculation intensified regarding Saudi Arabia’s plans for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The week-long ritual visit to Mecca and its surrounding holy sites is a once in a lifetime religious requirement for all Muslims, drawing around 2.5 million pilgrims each year. A month before Hajj was scheduled to begin, the Saudi government announced a symbolic and very limited Hajj, permitting only 1000 pilgrims and enforcing strict testing and quarantine, age and health limitations, and social distancing measures.
This paper traces the efforts of the Saudi MOH to honor and respect religious practice while ensuring public health and safety. It examines the rationales and ethical justifications utilized by the MOH to restrict and regulate religious freedom, including that of international visitors, in the face of growing worldwide attention. This paper also offers a glance into some of the ethical debates that took place within the Muslim community- both in Saudi Arabia and abroad-particularly in regards to limitations placed on Umrah and Hajj, some of which were critical in nature. Lastly, this work also explores the lessons learned in the process of honoring sacred practice while maintaining public health and navigating political diplomacy.
As Saudi Arabia slowly begins to ease pandemic restrictions, including limitations on mosque worship and visits to Mecca and Madina, it is salient to contemplate how religious practice was re-imagined in the past year, and how that transformation may necessarily be here to stay.