A combo photo shows piligrims kissing and touching the Kaaba after the barriers (R) were removed. Twitter photo

Gulf Today Report

After a hiatus of over two years, pilgrims at the grand mosque in the Holy City of Makkah will be able to touch and kiss Holy Kaaba and Hajar Al Aswad (Black Stone).

Saudi authorities have removed the protective barriers surrounding the Holy Kaaba following an announcement by Dr Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Sudais, head of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.

Saudi authorities have posted a video on social media, which shows workers removing all barricades around the Holy Kaaba. Saudi Arabia has opened Umrah for the pilgrims from August this year. Now the pilgrims who are there for Umrah will be allowed to touch and kiss the Holy Kaaba and Hajar Al Aswad.

Al Sudais announced the issuance of the kind approval to lift the protective barriers around the Holy Kaaba, coinciding with the start of the Umrah season.

Al Sudais stressed that this decision embodies the wise leadership’s interest in visitors to the Grand Mosque and facilitating their rituals and worship in a safe and reassuring spiritual atmosphere, especially with the intensity that the Holy Mosque began to witness in conjunction with the Umrah season.

For the last two years, pilgrims were separated from the Holy Kaaba to maintain social distancing in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities had put barriers around the Holy Kaaba on July 1, 2020, after an order from the National Centre for the Prevention of Coronavirus to prevent the spread of the disease.