MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia has restored full pilgrim capacity for this year’s Hajj, following three years of dramatically reduced numbers due to the pandemic, with more than 2 million ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — For Zainab Abdu, the holiest sites in Islam were the backdrop for her weekends growing up. Raised in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, Abdu remembers roller skating with friends near the ...

This year’s hajj is a landmark: the first full pilgrimage after a daunting three-year period when the COVID-19 pandemic sharply reduced the scale of one of Islam’s holiest and most beloved rites.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — For Zainab Abdu, the holiest sites in Islam were the backdrop for her weekends growing up. Raised in Mecca, Abdu remembers roller-skating with friends near the Grand Mosque ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (RNS) — Mariam is sipping on a juice box while sitting on the front steps outside a hotel not far from the Grand Mosque in this holiest of cities for Muslims. Mariam first says she ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Pilgrims streamed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque on Saturday to perform their final rituals before heading to Mina in preparation for the Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam and one ...