MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Billboards line the Umm Al Qura highway leading to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, displaying manicured public spaces, glass-fronted stores and sleek towers. It’s part of a $26 ...

The Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board inspects residential and transportation facilities in Makkah to ensure a smooth Hajj ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — One million Muslim pilgrims were converging on Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca on Wednesday for the largest hajj since the COVID-19 pandemic severely curtailed access to one of ...

In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo taken with slow shutter speed, Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba during the hajj pilgrimage in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP Photo/Amr Nabil, ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — One million Muslim pilgrims were converging on Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca on Wednesday for the largest hajj since the coronavirus pandemic severely curtailed access to one ...

It added that the Saudi side promised to increase the number of Umrah visas for Afghanistan and assured full cooperation in ...

(RNS) — For two years as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, Sumaira Malik and her husband, Nauman Chaudary, left their deposit with Dar El Salam Travel for their planned hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia >> Billboards line the Umm Al Qura highway leading to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, displaying manicured public spaces, glass-fronted stores and sleek towers. It’s part of a $26 ...