Up to 96-year wait to perform haj

PILGRIMAGE: Quota reduced due to Mecca Mosque expansion project

IT now takes up to 96 years to perform the haj, if a person registers with Lembaga Tabung Haji under the Muassasah package.

Its group managing director and chief executive officer, Datuk Johan Abdullah, said the long wait was due to the quota set by the Saudi government.

“The quota is 0.1 per cent of the total population but since four years ago, it was reduced by 20 per cent due to the Great Mosque of Mecca expansion project.

“The only solution is to increase the quota but to what extent can we manage?

“The most is 50,000 pilgrims so beyond that, we fear that we could not provide comfort to them as we need more resources,” he told the New Straits Times.

Johan said once the project was completed, the old quota would be restored as the country had a good relationship with the kingdom.

“Hopefully, they will give additional quota in the future because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has a cordial relationship with Saudi King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud.

“Logically, 96 years is too long a wait, but our efforts account for 90 per cent of our success while 10 per cent is up to divine intervention.”

The selection process, he said, was transparent as it was on a first come, first served basis.

Johan rubbished claims of favouritism, which alleged that there were pilgrims who went with their second wife as a Mahram or those who went on duty.

“The selection process prioritises those no younger than 75 and those who accompany elderly or ailing folk.

“In other cases, those who went several times might have gone under a separate quota called Furada, which was given to private entities set by the kingdom.”

It is compulsory for Muslims to perform haj once in their lifetime, so he urged them to sponsor others who could not afford to under a programme called Tabung Warga Tua (a fund for elderly folk).