Will this year's Hajj have an ‘Arab Spring’ effect?

[rug]

November 4th, 2011
07:57 AM ET

By Dan Gilgoff and Dan Merica, CNN

(CNN) – The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is the world's largest gathering of Muslims - the biggest annual gathering of humanity, period.

So it's no surprise that Middle East experts expect this year's pilgrimage, the first to happen since the Arab Spring began last year, to be different.

The pilgrimage, called the Hajj, happens in the same global neighborhood as countries that have been roiled by protests, revolutions and war over the last 11 months.

But there's uncertainty about exactly how this Hajj, which officially begins Friday, will be different.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/04/huge-hajj-gathering-comes-against-backdrop-of-arab-spring/