A STRATEGIC MODEL FOR SAFETY DURING THE HAJJ PILGRIMAGE： AN ANP APPLICATION

1. Introduction The Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia by Muslims of all races, from all over the world. Every year, for over fourteen hundred years since the farewell pilgrimage of the Prophet Mohammed, millions of Muslims, men and women, have gathered for the same ritual, which can be described as the greatest gathering of mankind. Making the Hajj pilgrimage is the fifth pillar of Islam, and is the only one that must be performed in specific places: Makkah and its su…

A strategic model for safety during the Hajj pilgrimage: An ANP application

Saudi Arabia every year receives more than two million Muslims from all over the world to perform the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah. It must take place during a specific period of the year in a specific and limited space. In spite of the effort government agencies devote to this event, a variety of disasters usually take place each year. As the number of pilgrims is increasing every year the problem is becoming an alarming one. More and more resources are allocated to eliminate the occurrence of such disasters. More than one strategy has been proposed to make the Hajj as safe as possible. Knowing that the problem is very complex as it involves numerous actors, and many entangled criteria and elements, the question is which strategy is best. This paper presents the Analytic Network Process as a sound methodology for structuring the Hajj problem by designing an analytical model to find which strategy to focus on to make the pilgrimage as safe as possible.