Saudi Confirms August 11 Eid-el-Kabir Day

The Kingdom of Saudi, through its Supreme Court has confirmed the sight of the Dhu Al-Hijjah crescent.

This means Hajj will begin on Friday, August 9 and Pilgrims will spend the 10th of August on the Mount Arafah. Eid-el-Adha has been set for Sunday, 11th of August.

The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs is set to confirm the date set for Eid-el-Adha in Saudi. The date however coincided with Saudi’s during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.

According to statistics provided on Wednesday, 1,249,951 Hajj pilgrims had arrived in the Kingdom for the pilgrimage. This was issued by the Saudi General Directorate of Passports.

Pilgrims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Tunisia have been arriving in Saudi Arabia as part of the Makkah Route initiative. The programme was launched last year with Malaysia and Indonesia as the first to try.

The “Makkah Route” initiative helps with the processing of requirements for Hajj pilgrims with ‘issuance of visas, ensuring compliance with health requirements, and codifying and sorting luggage at airports in the pilgrims’ own countries,’ all parts of ways to ease pilgrims’ path to Makkah.

Some of the pilgrims who get cleared through the programme can bypass the procedures upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.

They head directly to buses waiting to transport them to accommodations in Makkah and Madinah, further helping to mitigate against congestion at airports.

Robiu Musa

A season Journalist, philanthropist and founder, Concerned Nation Builders Initiative (CNI), an NGO.