Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it would permit one million Muslims from inside and outside the country to participate in this year’s hajj, a sharp uptick after Covid-19 restrictions forced two years of drastically pared-down pilgrimages. The hajj ministry “has authorised one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform the hajj this year,” it said in a statement. The Covid-19 pandemic has hugely disrupted Muslim pilgrimages, which are usually key revenue earners for the kingdom, bringing in some $12 billion annually. Hosting the pilgrimages is a matter of prestige for Saudi rulers, f…