Trouble seems to have found this year’s pilgrimage to Mecca before the season even started. On Sept. 11, a huge crane being used in the ongoing expansion of the Mecca precinct collapsed, killing more than 100 pilgrims and injuring many others. The tragedy was so catastrophic that King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, promised a full investigation and visited the site of the accident and the injured. Like many other accidents in the past, this disaster brought to attention the contested nature of Saudi control over the holiest site of Islam.

The Saudi leadership boasts about its efforts to welcome the pilgrims and expand the area where they can perform their annual ritual, the quality of the health services it offers and, most important, the safety and security of pilgrims. 

However, the moment a Muslim decides to make the pilgrimage, he is at the mercy of the commercialization of this religious duty. From visa fees imposed by the Saudi government to transportation and accommodation charges, pilgrims are a source of income to both the Saudi government and service providers. The Saudi government prefers to call pilgrims “guests of God,” but these guests pay a high price. It takes some Muslims a lifetime to save for this important journey; many may never have enough resources to make it. Others can be banned for political reasons.

A Saudi micro-economy has flourished around the annual pilgrimage, but that is often overlooked when the Saudi leadership boasts about its services to pilgrims. From small hotel owners to global chains owned by entrepreneur princes such as Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, revenues from the pilgrimage have always been an important source of income.