{"id":1937,"date":"2025-06-03T07:45:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T02:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=1937"},"modified":"2025-06-03T05:19:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T00:19:34","slug":"pilgrims-brave-scorching-heat-as-hajj-2025-begins-in-makkah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/03\/pilgrims-brave-scorching-heat-as-hajj-2025-begins-in-makkah","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrims Brave Scorching Heat as Hajj 2025 Begins in Makkah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><strong>ISLAMABAD:<\/strong>\u00a0Over 1.3 million Muslims have gathered in Makkah for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, with Saudi authorities implementing unprecedented heat mitigation measures after last year&#8217;s deadly temperatures claimed 1,301 lives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">This year&#8217;s rituals, occurring again in peak summer, face forecasts exceeding 40\u00b0C (104\u00b0F).<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Enhanced Safety Measures Deployed<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Saudi officials have expanded shaded areas by 50,000 sqm, deployed 400 cooling units, and mobilized 250,000 staff to protect pilgrims. AI-powered drones and surveillance systems monitor crowds, while health teams have already treated 44 heatstroke cases.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1940\" src=\"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/02204020737e867.jpg\" alt=\"Hajj, Makkah, heatwave, Saudi Arabia, pilgrimage\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/02204020737e867.jpg 800w, https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/02204020737e867-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/02204020737e867-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re determined to prevent last year&#8217;s tragedy,&#8221; said Hajj Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah. The crackdown on unregistered pilgrims has intensified, with violators facing deportation and 10-year bans.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Pilgrims&#8217; Joy Amid Extreme Conditions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Despite the &#8220;very, very hot&#8221; conditions described by Nigerian pilgrim Abdulhamid, 27, worshippers expressed spiritual elation. &#8220;This is Allah&#8217;s blessing,&#8221; said Filipino lawyer Abdul Majid Ati near the Kaaba. For Senegalese pilgrim Mariama, 52, the journey fulfilled a lifelong dream.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1938\" src=\"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/022040209aebaad.jpg\" alt=\"Hajj, Makkah, heatwave, Saudi Arabia, pilgrimage\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/022040209aebaad.jpg 800w, https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/022040209aebaad-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/assests\/2025\/06\/022040209aebaad-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">The Hajj remains a pillar of Islam and key source of Saudi soft power, generating billions annually while testing the kingdom&#8217;s crowd-management capabilities in an era of climate extremes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD:\u00a0Over 1.3 million Muslims have gathered in Makkah for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, with Saudi authorities implementing unprecedented heat mitigation measures after last year&#8217;s deadly temperatures claimed 1,301 lives. This year&#8217;s rituals, occurring again in peak summer, face forecasts exceeding 40\u00b0C (104\u00b0F). Enhanced Safety Measures Deployed Saudi officials have expanded shaded areas by 50,000 sqm, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[375,863,379,864,72],"class_list":["post-1937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-hajj","tag-heatwave","tag-makkah","tag-pilgrimage","tag-saudi-arabia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1937"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1941,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937\/revisions\/1941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}