Huda Omari sat outside a broker’s office in Jordan for two days, waiting for her visa to make the annual hajj, or pilgrimage, to Saudi Arabia.
In Egypt, Magda Moussa’s three sons pooled their resources to scrape together nearly $9,000 to realize a dream of accompanying their mother to the hajj.
When she got the go-ahead for the trip, she said, relatives and neighbors in her village ululated in celebration.
The dayslong pilgrimage is a profound spiritual journey and an arduous trek under the best of circumstances.
But this year, amid record heat, at least 1,300 pilgrims did not survive the hajj, and Saudi authorities said that more than 80 percent of the dead were pilgrims who lacked permits.
Persons:
Huda Omari, Magda Moussa’s, Omari, Moussa
Organizations:
Saudi
Locations:
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt