Saudi Arabia to hold 'very limited' hajj over pandemic

The decision marks the first time in Saudi Arabia's modern history that Muslims outside the kingdom have been barred from performing the hajj, which last year drew 2.5 million pilgrims. The move to scale back the five-day event, scheduled for the end of July, is fraught with political and economic peril and comes after several Muslim nations pulled out of the ritual that forms one of the main pillars of Islam.