Hajj and Umrah News - South Africa

10 Aug 2019

Hajj ministry launches Twitter awareness campaign

MINA: Saudi Arabia’s Hajj and Umrah Ministry has launched a Twitter service to help answer pilgrims’ frequently asked questions.  The service started with hundreds of tweets - accompanied by the Arabic hashtag #Your_Hajj_in_your_Own_Language - that were translated into 13 languages including Chinese, French, Russian, Thai and Urdu. 

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10 Aug 2019

Mina tent city hosts over 2 million Hajj pilgrims

MINA: More than 2 million pilgrims gathered in the tent city of Mina as Hajj 2019 began on Friday.  From Mina, the pilgrims will head to Mount Arafat early on Saturday, an area about 20 km east of Makkah. There, the pilgrims will stand shoulder to shoulder for an emotional day of repentance and supplication at the site where Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon, calling

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9 Aug 2019

Is it Mecca or Makkah? There’s a royal decree to help you decide

DUBAI: Translations of names from Arabic to English are always contentious – there are countless ways to spell “Quran” and “Mohammad,” but few might be aware that when it comes to the name of the holy city of Makkah, this spelling was decided by royal decree. While most western authorities spell the city’s name as “Mecca,” it was decided by the then Crown Prince, King Fahd bin

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