Umrah is a holy prayer for Muslims; that’s why millions of people go to perform this prayer in Saudi Arabia. In fact, 28 million Muslims visited Haram for the purpose of Umrah in 2023, marking an increase of 8.7% compared to the previous year, as per Saudi Arabia’s official stats. This huge influx of pilgrimages results in large crowds in the country. Such a huge mob can pose serious management issues for the authorities. This informative piece of blog will throw light on how crowds are managed safely during Umrah. Let’s have a look:
Understanding the Crowd Dynamics of Umrah
Every year, a wide range of Muslims avail deals, such as the group Umrah packages, to perform minor pilgrimages. This creates a big crowd in the mosque. Before embarking on crowd management during Umrah, let’s try to understand its dynamics and what challenges it brings:
1. Diverse Demographics
Haram receives pilgrims from around the world, giving a diverse demographic. This includes people from every age, gender, and colour. They buy various deals, including Umrah group packages, and come to get blessings in the sacred place. Managing such a crowd with diversity brings serious challenges to the management.
2. Peak Seasons
The Grand Mosque is always filled with pilgrims; however, their density increases in peak times. These include Ramadan or during Hajj times. In fact, more than 8 million people travelled to Haram for the purpose of Umrah in 2023, with almost half of the Muslims being there in the last 10 days. During such times, managing the mob is a crucial task to prevent any issues.
3. Challenges Managing Crowd
The following are the factors that can influence the crowd and contribute to their dynamics:
Religious fervour: Pilgrims are emotionally charged and have high emotions. This can drive their behaviour, causing harm to others.
Physical limitations: The crowd contains every type of pilgrim, including the disabled and those with health issues. To let them have a peaceful Umrah experience is another challenge.
Language barriers: Having a large diversity means a big crowd with different languages. The security forces in Haram only know Arabic; hence, it is another issue to communicate with the pilgrims.
Stampede: The risk of stampede is always present among big crowds, especially in the narrow corridors and the congested areas. Fake news and any disturbance can cause chaos.
Heatstroke: The accumulation of large people in one place can increase the temperatures drastically. This risk is particularly high during the summer, leading to heat stroke and other associated health issues.
Accidents: During Umrah with large crowds, accidents are quite common. The sheer number of people increases the probability of injuries, disturbing the overall experience.
Crowd Management During Umrah
For a hassle free and smooth Umrah journey for everyone, Saudi Arabia has employed various tactics. The goal is that everyone has a blessed Umrah journey without any issues. Here is a brief analysis of their efforts:
1. Permits and Quotas
To manage the crowd, one way is to control via permits and quotes. These permits and quotes are particularly useful during peak times. Every pilgrimage that is coming to Umrah has to apply for a visa online. Depending on the country of origin, it can take anywhere between 1 and 5 days. To get permission for Umrah, the government has now made it mandatory to apply online via apps like Nusuk. This is useful to control the crowd during Ramadan.
To ensure an equitable distribution of the pilgrims, the government issued quotas to each country. For example, 12.348 Muslims were allowed to perform Umrah in 2022 by the authorities from the UK. The goal is that everyone has a smooth Umrah journey while maintaining safety and order.
2. Crowd Flow Management
To effectively manage the crowd flow during times such as Umrah in Ramadan, the government has established various means. These practices have been implemented after years of research, work, and study. Let’s see these means in detail:
Designated paths: Designed paths have been made to guide the flow of pilgrims during Umrah. These facilitate the movement of the crowd during Tawaf and Sa’i. Further, there are also various helpful guides, such as marking for Tawaf, Zam Zam water, etc.
Physical barriers: For the guidance of the pilgrims, physical barriers have been put on the floor of the Haram for the control of flow. The goal of these hurdles is to direct the pilgrims.
Volunteer assistance: Trained guards are placed at different places in Haram, such as entry, exit, on the floor, as well as on the roof. They guide the people to have an undisturbed flow. For example, a volunteer appointed near the Hajr-e-Aswad ensures that no pilgrim spends too much time on the black stone, making way for other people.
The Institute of the Custodian: This community was made in 1975. Its sole role is to study everything related to crisis and crowd management during peak times, such as Hajj. It devises plans and goals as well as develops formulas with the help of crisis management methods.
General Authority for Affairs: This department works for both the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque. Known as the General Administration of Crowds and Guidance, their basic role is to control the influx of pilgrims as well as organise movements for the smooth flow of traffic. For this purpose, they have various personnel at specific points.
The Special Forces: This force is only recruited for the days of Hajj and Ramadan. To handle the large number of people, they are specially trained agents who work to serve the Umrah performers. Their main role is to provide aid and awareness as well as to keep a check via cameras, drones, and other devices.
Pilgrim Experience Program: This program has been added to the Saudi Vision 2030, and its main role is to provide high-quality services for pilgrims. This broad plan features crowd movement from the airport and its transfer to the Grand Mosque while keeping everything in control.
Saudi Arabia Railways ‘SAR’: This railway project has been made between Makkah and Madinah, and its primary role is to ensure the smooth transfer of pilgrims from one city to the other. With a punctuality rate of up to 98%, it can support the movement of pilgrims with 78,000 people per hour.
Crowd management using AI: With the help of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Ministry of Interior and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) use AI patterns to keep an eye on visitors. This protocol was used for the first time in Hajj 2023, and they are planning to introduce it on a wide scale for Umrah prayers.
3. Infrastructure and Facilities
The authorities have also worked on uplifting the infrastructure of the Haram to add more pilgrims. One such step is the expansion of the mosque. Till now, 3 major expansions have been done from 1955 to 2015. Due to these changes, this mosque now spreads over an area of 356,800 square metres, managing 1.5 million people at the same time.
4. Health and Safety Measures
During a large crowd, one thing is highly inevitable, and that’s mishaps and accidents. As per the report of the Hajj Council of North America, incidents of fainting due to heat in the large crowd, GIT issues, and minor skin problems are quite common during large crowd days in Makkah.
To counter these issues, a special authority with the name “The Global Center for Mass Gatherings Medicine at the Ministry of Health” has been made. With the help of human resource management and enhanced scientific methods, they offer services to pilgrims to ensure their safety during their Umrah prayer. The TL;DR is that each year millions of pilgrims flock to Saudi Arabia for Umrah prayers. To manage such big crowds, the government has devised various plans, such as quotas, crowd flow management, infrastructure, and other health measures. The goal is to ensure a smooth experience for every pilgrim.
