Women don colorful robes at guardian-free Hajj

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah on July 6, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 08 July 2022
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Women don colorful robes at guardian-free Hajj

  • Requirement of male guardian was shelved last year, bringing a whole new dimension to the annual pilgrimage
  • Many women abandoned black robes traditionally preferred by Hajj organizers, reds, greens, oranges, blues dotted crowds 

MAKKAH: With her husband back at home in Tunisia and draped in a national flag, Laila Al-Qarni urges all Muslim women to attend Saudi Arabia’s Hajj without a male guardian, after the requirement was shelved last year.

The Saudi authorities’ move has brought a whole new dimension to the annual pilgrimage.

“Why do women have to be accompanied by a male anyway? Why?” she said, speaking near the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city, in western Saudi Arabia.

“Women are capable of handling themselves. I encourage every woman to come here without a male guardian,” the 60-year-old added.




Muslim pilgrims arrive outside the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah on July 5, 2022. (AFP)

This year’s Hajj, the first large-scale edition since the guardian requirement was dropped in 2021 amid Covid-19, has taken on a different hue with thousands of unaccompanied women joining the rituals.

Many of them have abandoned the black robes traditionally preferred by Hajj organizers, adding a dash of color with reds, greens, oranges and blues dotted around the crowds.

Arab women should be “courageous and able to adapt” to different circumstances, said Al-Qarni’s sister, Hayat Abdul Malek.

“A woman is worth 100 men,” said the mother of three, who managed 1,400 employees at the company where she worked before retiring.

Last year, the Saudi Hajj ministry allowed women of all ages to make the pilgrimage without a male relative, known as a “mehrem,” on the condition that they go in a group.




emale Muslim pilgrims pray in the shade, to escape the heat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage in the Saudi holy city of Makkah, on July 6, 2022. (AFP)

Authorities previously stipulated a male guardian for any female pilgrim under the age of 45, preventing many women around the world from performing one of the five pillars of Islam.

Al-Qarni’s husband could not attend because he is over the maximum age of 65.

The new ruling has also encouraged women over 45 who had been hesitant to attend without their brothers, sons, fathers or husbands.

One million people, including 850,000 from abroad, are allowed at this year’s Hajj after just tens of thousands could attend over the last two years, due to pandemic restrictions.

On Saturday, the local women of Makkah are expected to celebrate the first day of Eid Al-Adha, which marks the end of the Hajj, in traditional, colorful Saudi dresses that were abandoned for decades before recent moves to modernize the conservative country.

The decision to drop the “mehrem” is part of the social reforms rolled out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is trying to shake off the kingdom’s austere image and open up its oil-reliant economy.

Since his rise to power in 2017, women have been allowed to drive and to travel abroad without a male guardian.

Suhail Mohammed, an Egyptian pilgrim and mother of three, has worked as a manager in a department of the ministry of defense for more than three decades.

“Come and don’t be scared,” she said, encouraging other women to make the trip without male relatives.

“It gave me confidence... It empowered me and made me stronger,” she said of tackling the five-day pilgrimage.

“Women who stay at home are the ones who can feel afraid” of performing rituals such as the Hajj, which requires mental and physical resilience, she added.




A Muslim worshipper wearing a scarf showing the flag of Turkey waves at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah on July 6, 2022. (AFP)

The Arab region ranks the “lowest in the world in terms of women’s rights, with a gender gap that needs 153 years to close,” a Middle East Institute study said in October.

But despite hardships, women in countries such as Tunisia and Lebanon enjoy more social freedoms than others.

Things are also changing in the Gulf region, with more women entering the workforce and some going into politics, holding cabinet positions in the United Arab Emirates and parliament seats in Kuwait.

In Makkah’s Grand Mosque, many women this week performed the opening Hajj rituals alone.

Some of them video-called their relatives back home, and others read long prayers from electronic tablets.

“For those (women) who are able to (perform the Hajj), don’t lose the opportunity,” even if it means going without a male guardian, said retired Egyptian financial expert Faten Abdel Moneim, 65.

“This is a spiritual joy that cannot be described. You are in the house of God, what more could you ask for?“


Sudan’s army chief receives Saudi deputy foreign minister in Port Sudan

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan receives Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji in Port Sudan.
Updated 05 November 2024
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Sudan’s army chief receives Saudi deputy foreign minister in Port Sudan

  • During the meeting, Al-Khuraiji stressed the keenness of the Kingdom’s leadership on restoring security and stability in Sudan

RIYADH: Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan received Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji in Port Sudan on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Al-Khuraiji stressed the keenness of the Kingdom’s leadership on restoring security and stability in Sudan.

The minister’s visit to the country comes as part of the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to address the crisis in Sudan, reach a ceasefire, and restore stability to the country. 

The Kingdom continues to support the humanitarian response efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people, Saudi Press Agency said. 


Saudi pavilion at UNESCO Arab Week in Paris celebrates Kingdom’s camel culture

Updated 05 November 2024
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Saudi pavilion at UNESCO Arab Week in Paris celebrates Kingdom’s camel culture

  • It shows how the role of the camel evolved from essential means of transport and provider of resources to a cultural icon embodying the Kingdom’s values

PARIS: The Saudi pavilion at UNESCO’s Arab Week event in Paris this week featured a showcase of the Kingdom’s deep-rooted connection to camel culture.

It explored the role of the animals as a vital part of the nation’s heritage, identity and civilization, and offered a glimpse into their enduring place in society, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The exhibits showed how the role of the camel has evolved from essential means of transport and provider of resources to a cultural icon that embodies the Kingdom’s values, and the ways in which camels are embedded in Saudi customs, traditions and literature, including poetry and proverbs.

The Saudi Ministry of Culture designated 2024 “The Year of the Camel” to highlight and reinforce the status of the animal as a national symbol and cornerstone of the Arabian cultural identity. Camels are regularly celebrated across the country through dedicated festivals, race events, clubs and research centers.

UNESCO’s Arab Week, which features 22 Arab nations, was initiated by Saudi Arabia. Guests at the official opening of the event on Monday included Saudi envoys, ambassadors representing other nations, Arab and other international diplomats stationed in France, and officials from UNESCO.


AI makes media industry more efficient and drives growth, expert says

Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital, speaks to Arab News at the Athar Festival of Creativity.
Updated 05 November 2024
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AI makes media industry more efficient and drives growth, expert says

  • Martin Sorrell: ‘AI speeds up writing processes, increasing efficiency’
  • New tech allows for increasingly personalized content

RIYADH: Artificial intelligence is being used more effectively and efficiently to drive higher economic development in the media industry, said Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital.

At a panel session at the Athar Festival of Creativity Sorrell described how media agencies, such as S4 Capital and its subsidiary, Media.Monks, are using AI in a number of ways.

One application of AI in media, he said, is in “speeding the execution of copywriting and visualization.”

Time to market is drastically decreasing: “What took us literally days is now taking us three hours,” he said. Yet this produces another problem because reducing the time of procurement cuts costs, but this also means it is necessary to move to a model that increases gains in outputs,” he said.

Another application is in personalizing content for consumers. Sorrell told Arab News: “Individualization, hyper personalization, are going to become more important. Knowing the consumer in excruciating detail, using data, using the signals from the platforms, using first-party data, it becomes even more important.”

Using Netflix audience feedback algorithms as an example, Sorrell pointed out that AI enables these algorithms to produce larger and more accurate quantities of output, for example, recommendations based on user profile readings.

“We charge on a per asset used basis. Price of the asset may come down, but total revenue grows because we’re using multiple assets,” he said.

A growing area is in “media planning and buying.” Sophisticated algorithms can far more efficiently choose the distribution of planning and buying than individual media planners.

Technological capital and human capital, however, go hand in hand.

“We as agencies have to validate the algorithm’s analysis. We have to make sure that the client’s money is spent in the right way.”

Another benefit of AI is its ability to improve organizational efficiency. Where organizational silos once kept departments and specializations separate, AI opens up information to the majority of users.

To maintain the emotional connection and trust of the brand-consumer relationship in a technologically driven world, according to Sorrell, understanding individual motivation is increasingly crucial.

“Insights into culture, insights into language, into custom, into belief, into family, into country, that knowledge becomes critically important, far more so in a globalized world,” he said.

The diversity and knowledge of global and local organizations are essential for the success of any company, but the value of personalization means that local knowledge may take the lead, he added.

Quoting Harvard Business School professor Ted Levitt, Sorrell continued: “because remember, consumers will consume everything in the same way everywhere.”

Advising young professionals in tech, media and other industries operating in an AI-powered future, Sorrell said that rather than stripping away opportunities from creatives, avoiding the risk of “bombarding” consumers with much of the same, AI means “creativity becomes even more important.”

Additionally, creatives need to familiarize themselves with the skills and roles that are complementary to the new world: “I think every creative should learn Chinese. I think every creative should learn Spanish, probably Arabic too … and they should learn code.”

“The skills of the ‘Mad Men’, that Don Draper had or his colleagues … are very different to what you need now.”


Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes this year as part of tourism drive, ACP’s CEO says

The CEO of the Air Connectivity Program Majid Khan speaks at the Umrah+ Connect event in London on Monday November 4, 2024. (AN
Updated 05 November 2024
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Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes this year as part of tourism drive, ACP’s CEO says

  • Kingdom has attracted 12 new airlines to date in 2024

LONDON: Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes from various destinations to the Kingdom this year, increasing tourist seating capacity by nearly 2 million, the CEO of the Air Connectivity Program has said.

Speaking at the Umrah+ Connect business-to-business event in London on Monday, Majid Khan said the Kingdom had attracted 12 new airlines to date in 2024.

Khan said: “There has been good expansion out of the UK. Virgin Atlantic is going to start daily flights from Heathrow to Riyadh in March; British Airways launched flights to Jeddah yesterday; Wizz Air will also be operating Gatwick to Jeddah flights daily.

“We are definitely focusing on our own carriers as well, because they are definitely our first priority; Flynas, flyadeal, Saudia, and Riyadh Air in the future.

“But we are also proactively working with international carriers in order to help us to get a higher share of inbound tourism to the Kingdom, as they have their sales and marketing channels in this part of the world.

“We know that the majority of BA travelers are not Saudis. They are actually travelers from the UK market, from their network in Europe and North America.”

Saudi Arabia has a strong, strategic location and travelers can reach more than half of the world within a six-hour flight, Khan said. He added that the ACP was working to deliver 150 million tourists to the Kingdom as part of Saudi Vision 2030.

He said: “Saudi Arabia is like one continent. We have 1,700 km of coastline, the new Maldives that’s actually the Red Sea, the two holiest sites for Muslims in the world, and mountainous regions.

“In the south we have Abha and Jazan, which I would personally call the Switzerland of Saudi Arabia. So it’s definitely an untouched wonder.”

An exhibition at the event highlighted new tourism developments in the Kingdom that British pilgrims can enjoy, including religious sites and activities that promote an understanding of Saudi cultural heritage.

Khan said the ACP was trying to revolutionize the way pilgrims travel, allowing them to holiday in the Kingdom after performing their religious rituals.

He said: “If we take the UK market, travelers typically have one Umrah ticket in their pocket to perform the minor pilgrimage with their family and friends. They then come back again to the UK, and have a separate ticket to either Dubai, Istanbul, or Malaga.

“This is something we would like to change. Travelers can perform Umrah, see the sacred places, and then save their tickets and continue to travel around the Kingdom. That’s the way we try to position Saudi Arabia.”

Rashid Mohammed, the organizer of Umrah+ Connect, said that Monday’s event had provided an opportunity for Umrah travel agents to network and grow their businesses.

Rashid Mohammed, the organizer of Umrah+ Connect (fourth from right), poses with the team from the Pilgrim Experience Program. (Umrah+ Connect)

Mohammed said: “We’ve brought you a diverse experience here in London, and it’s for you to use these tools, through connecting with people, to create packages that enhance and enrich pilgrim experiences.

“We’re also grateful for the support of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, and the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum, who are here today and have really backed us to put on this show.”


Saudi minister receives German foreign ministry official

Updated 05 November 2024
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Saudi minister receives German foreign ministry official

  • Discussions focused on enhancing relations, regional and international developments and issues of common concern

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Saud Al-Sati received Gregory Bledjian, head of the Middle East division at the German Foreign Ministry, and several accompanying officials, in Riyadh on Tuesday.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to enhance relations, regional and international developments, and issues of common interest, the Foreign Ministry wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Shoura Council Speaker Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh received Turkiye’s Ambassador to the Kingdom Emrullah Isler in Riyadh on Tuesday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.