抖阴短视频

Makkah: Bushra Shah, a 35-year-old Pakistani, says she is realizing a childhood dream by making the great pilgrimage to Makkah, and under new rules she鈥檚 doing it without a male 鈥済uardian.鈥�
The Hajj ministry has officially allowed women of all ages to make the pilgrimage without a male relative, known as a 鈥渕ehrem,鈥� on the condition that they go in a group.
The decision is part of social reforms rolled out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is trying to shake off the kingdom鈥檚 austere image and open up its oil-reliant economy.
Since his rise to power, women have been allowed to drive and to travel abroad without a male guardian.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a dream come true. My childhood dream was to make the Hajj,鈥� Shah told AFP, before setting off from her home in Jeddah, the major port city in western 抖阴短视频.
The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a must for able-bodied Muslims with the means to do so at least once in their lifetime.
For the young mother, making the pilgrimage with her husband and child would have been a distraction that would have prevented her from 鈥渃oncentrating completely on the rites.鈥�
Shah is one of 60,000 pilgrims chosen to take part in this year鈥檚 Hajj, which has been dramatically scaled down for the second year running because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Only citizens and residents of 抖阴短视频, chosen in a lottery, are taking part. Officials have said that 40 percent of this year鈥檚 pilgrims are women.
鈥淢any women will also come with me. I am very proud that we are now independent and do not need a guardian,鈥� Shah said.
Her husband, Ali Murtada, said he 鈥渟trongly encouraged鈥� his wife to make the trip alone, after the government鈥檚 decision to ban children from participating in the Hajj this year.
He will stay in Jeddah to look after their child.
鈥淲e decided that one of us should go. Maybe she will be pregnant next year or maybe the children will still not be allowed to participate,鈥� the 38-year-old said.
Authorities previously required the presence of a male guardian for any woman pilgrim under the age of 45, preventing many Muslim women around the world from making the Hajj.
That was the case for Marwa Shaker, an Egyptian woman living in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
鈥淗ajj without a guardian is a miracle,鈥� the 42-year-old, who works for a civil society organization, told AFP.
Now traveling to Makkah with three of her friends, the mother of three had tried several times to make the pilgrimage before the pandemic. But she was unable to because her husband had already been and was not permitted to go again so soon.
鈥淚 feel enormously joyful. God has called me despite all the obstacles,鈥� she said.
For Sadaf Ghafoor, a British-Pakistani doctor, traveling without a male guardian was the 鈥渙nly option.鈥�
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 leave the children alone,鈥� the 40-year-old said of her three youngsters.
Her husband decided to stay behind, and Ghafoor headed to Makkah with a neighbor.
鈥淚t was not easy to take the decision to go alone... but we took this opportunity as a blessing,鈥� she said.