(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY SHELLY YANG

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

The world’s largest annual human assembly, the Muslim hajj pilgrimage, starts in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, this Friday. Here’s euronews, with the grand scene.

“More than a million Muslims have been arriving in Saudi Arabia’s sacred city of Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The journey is a duty that all able-bodied Muslims must undertake at least once in their lifetime. As Friday is the first official day of the Hajj, all pilgrims are expected to start their trip at Mina, a small village east of Mecca.”

But this year’s hajj is attracting special attention for being the first pilgrimage after the Arab Spring began. An expert from American University tells The Takeaway why this could be raising some concern in Saudi Arabia.

“And this time along with the Arab Spring, there will a lot of young people there with ideas of democracy, human rights and civil liberties, which of course in Saudi Arabia will cause a lot of concern and sleepless nights to a lot of officials.”

Despite that, On Islam says it’s still unclear how the Arab Spring will actually affect the hajj environment.

“...it remained vague how this Hajj, which officially begins Friday, will be different. … Announcing no special security measures for hajj, the Saudi authorities are expected to be on alert for any possible flare-ups.”

If anything, CNN reports the changes caused by the Arab Spring have already influenced one aspect of hajj: visa allocation.

"Some countries did a lottery, some did rationing, and with the government changes, if countries were doing rationing in the past, you can imagine they were sending friends and officials … Now there may be a more egalitarian mix … This will be a more democratic Hajj for the Arab world."

Meanwhile, Muslim clerics are urging pilgrims to take their minds off politics. One of them told the Saudi News Today...

“…the hajj is separate from the so-called Arab Spring and the toppling of a number of Arab leaders in the popular uprisings. Pilgrims want only to get closer to God.”