Pilgrims barred from performing more than one Umrah in Ramadan

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has barred pilgrims from performing more than one Umrah in Makkah during the holy month of Ramadan in order to avoid overcrowding, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said.

The Saudi ministry said that no permit was issued for performing two or more Umrahs in Ramadan.

"The restriction aims to ease congestion, give others the chance to undertake Umrah, and help in crowd management," it added.

“The permit issuance fails. To give everyone the chance to perform Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage can’t be repeated in Ramadan,” this message will pop up if anyone tries to obtain a permit for a second time.

On the other hand, as many as 5,225,231 Umrah pilgrims and worshippers visited the Holy Prophet's Mosque, Masjid-e-Nabawi (PBUH), in Madina al-Munawara in the first week of Ramadan.

The Haramin Sharifain authorities said on Monday over 4.4 million pilgrims offered Salam at Roza-e-Rasool (SAW) in Madina al-Munawara.

Almost 134,447 men and 107,697 women offered Nawafil prayers at Riaz-ul-Jannah in Masjid an-Nabawi (PBUH).

More than 144,000 bottles of Zamzam were distributed among the visitors at the holy mosque and around 15,000 iftar meals were distributed to the pilgrims during the first week of the fasting month.