The Modern Development of Hajj

Overview

Recall questions on how travel, pilgrim numbers, Saudi control and quotas changed Hajj, the rebuilding of the sites and its critics, and the effect of Hajj on the Ummah, the pilgrim and home.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How did travel change Hajj during the twentieth century?

   Model answer

   Journeys that had taken months by sea and overland became flights of a few hours, so far more people were able to go.

2. 2

   How did pilgrim numbers change across the twentieth century?

   Model answer

   Overseas pilgrims numbered well under a hundred thousand in the middle of the century and had passed one million by its end, with the total including domestic pilgrims approaching two million.

3. 3

   Which state took control of the pilgrimage sites in the twentieth century?

   Model answer

   Saudi Arabia. Ibn Saud took Makkah in 1924 and Madinah in 1925 and was proclaimed King of the Hijaz in 1926; the territories were merged into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, and the Saudi state has administered the sites ever since.

4. 4

   Why was a quota system introduced?

   Model answer

   Numbers were growing faster than the sites could safely hold, so each country was allotted places in proportion to its Muslim population.

5. 5

   Name two ways the sites were rebuilt for safety.

   Model answer

   The Grand Mosque was greatly enlarged, and the stoning site was rebuilt on several levels after fatal crushes.

6. 6

   Give two other modern measures for managing the pilgrimage.

   Model answer

   Air-conditioned tent cities at Mina and a dedicated rail line between the ritual sites, alongside electronic permits and vaccination requirements.

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