Saudi goes hi-tech for Haj pilgrimage

The annual Haj pilgrimage that draws millions of Muslim faithful to Makkah has gone hi-tech this year, with the Saudi authorities calling in latest electronic aides to help control the vast crowds.

Coping with the world’s largest annual human assembly poses a security headache forSaudi Arabia—guardian of the two holiest Muslim shrinesin the cities ofMakkah and Medina.

The ministry of religious affairs sends 3.25 million text messages each day to the mobile phones ofpilgrimsto inform them of correct procedures for the Haj rites so as to ‘prevent that which is harmful,’ according to ministry official Shaikh Talal Al Uqail, cited by the official SPA news agency.

The messages managed by more than 3,000 clerics, translators and administrators aim to correct ‘errors’ made by some pilgrims, the report said.

At the same time, Saudi authorities follow and manage the movement of the swarms of pilgrims by means of electronic monitors which track each and every pilgrim during the five-day hajj, according to Saudi Minister ofHaj Fuad Al Farsi.

The religious police meanwhile post videos and documents for the guidance of pilgrims on video-sharing websiteYouTube, accessible at http://www.youtube.com/user/movieshajj.

And for the first time this year, the Haj is being streamed live on YouTube in cooperation with the Saudi government. The stream can be seen at youtube.com/hajjlive.

More than two million Muslims flocked to Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain, marking the peak day of the Haj.

‘Things are going well and according to plan,’ interior ministry spokesman General Mansur Al Turki told AFP.

The Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all those who are able to make the journey.