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The restaurants have assured the faithful that the meat in the burgers is halal, and that the slaughter is supervised by Saudi authorities, and this has made the fast food attractive to hundreds of thousands who otherwise would not consider it.
Long lines of pilgrims can be seen, wearing their ihram, outside McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Baskin Robbins to get a quick bite or cool down with some ice cream in between rites.
The restaurants have responded to the massive upswing in demand by staying open 24 hours a day.
Pilgrims from Africa and Asia, many of whom have never seen these restaurants or tasted their offerings, are most anxious to dig in.
The idea of fast food suits the pilgrimage perfectly because of the lack of time that pilgrims want to spend on eating, when they would rather be performing more weighty acts of worship.
American fast food chains are spreading throughout the Middle East like wildfire, and are very popular, especially among the youth.
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