Next year marks last Hajj in summer season until...

Extreme heatwaves claimed hundreds of lives during the Hajj pilgrimage this year. But sweat no more! Several reports this week claimed that the next year would mark the last Hajj during the intense summer heat.

Muslim pilgrims from across the world will experience the last summer Hajj next year "before a 17-year hiatus from the hotter months," the Gulf News reported.

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This means that the Hajj season will enter a new phase of climate change during the year 2026. "We will not witness summer Hajj until after 17 years,” Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the Saudi National Meteorological Center (NMC), was quoted by Saudi Gazette as saying.

Meanwhile, another report cited Dr. Mansour Al Mazroui, a member of the Shoura Council and climate change researcher, as saying that the Hajj season will coincide with the summer season next year (2025).

Then the Hajj season will move to the spring season for eight years, and after that it will move to the winter season.

Why does his happen?

As per the Islamic lunar calendar, the Hajj will be moving to cooler spring and winter months.

The Gulf report cited Hussein Al Qahtani, the official spokesperson for the National Meteorological Center, as saying that "the significant shift in seasonal timing is due to the Islamic lunar calendar, which causes the Hajj dates to move backwards approximately 10 days each year."

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If the timing of the Hajj pilgrimage shifts, it will provide a major relief to pilgrims from the extreme heat experienced during the pilgrimage.

Saudi Arabia hajj deaths

This year, the temperatures at Mecca's Grand Mosque reached a scorching 51.8 degrees Celsius. "The upcoming change promises milder weather conditions for one of the largest annual religious gatherings in the world, improving the experience for millions of pilgrims," the Gulf report stated.

The report added that 2,764 cases of heat exhaustion and sunstroke were reported in just one day during this year's summer hajj, "largely due to pilgrims not following health and safety instructions."

"The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgement on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks," A senior Saudi official told AFP in the government's first comments on the deaths.

A rapid analysis by an independent group of climate scientists and researchers revealed that climate change intensified the deadly heatwave, making it 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer.

Hajj 2025

Saudi Arabia has begun preparations for Hajj 2025 season at the Closing Ceremony of the current Hajj season. Registration for the next Hajj season — Hajj 2025 — will open from the beginning of September 2024, the General Authority for Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat (Awqaf) announced on Wednesday.