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Every year millions of Muslims across the world pledge to perform an annual pilgrimage — Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They leave their respective countries for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for weeks and often a month or so.

According to a 2018 New York Times article, at least 1.7 million foreign pilgrims were in Mecca, Saudi Arabia last year to perform Hajj. “To Get All the World’s Muslims to Hajj, It Would Take at Least 581 Years”, Sarah AlMukhtar does the math.

The article mentions that there are at least 1.8 billion Muslims around the world and even at 3 million per year it would take 581 years for all the Muslims of the world to perform Hajj.

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All those who are physically fit and financially well off to undertake the expenses due are obliged to take the said pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.

Muslims of today wait years to get a chance to do so. Very few are able to undertake the journey and manage their expenses on their own. In order to enable Muslims from all over the world, the Saudi government sets respective quotas for all countries, including the Kingdom itself.

Despite expansion efforts, every year, Mecca is filled with pilgrims from all over the world while the Kingdom remains adamant to expand the territory of the Holy Kabah to accommodate more and more pilgrims every year.

The Kingdom plans to accommodate at least 1.85 billion people in the near future.