Muslim pilgrims, donning face masks and moving in small groups after days in isolation, began arriving at Islam’s holiest site in Mecca on Wednesday for the start of a historically unique and scaled-down hajj experience reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have upped the ante in their war of words. Both are now denouncing the other’s Islamic legitimacy. The two Persian Gulf powers are already locked in numerous proxy conflicts across the region. The US is not happy about the mess.
Among those killed in the crush of the Hajj crowd in Mina, Saudi Arabia, last week was a woman beloved in Nigeria and beyond. Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, a pioneering journalist and activist, broke down barriers in a patriarchal society.
When a group of Muslims from the Boston area make the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage for millions of Muslims around the world, they discover it’s a test of their patience and endurance. It was equally so for the group of PBS filmmakers who followed the pilgrims to Mecca.