Hajj: Journey of faith and hope (II)

Ishare with readers the discussions between international pilgrims on issues surrounding pilgrimage and efforts being made to perfect organizing of hajj in their countries.

Sharifah: I am impressed by the number pilgrims that come on the pilgrimage from Nigeria every year. I also congratulate you on the improvement in the management of your airlift of pilgrims to and from the holy land which has been completed on schedule these past few years.

Binta: Nigeria is a multi religious country and the government has invested in the establishment of both Muslim and Christian pilgrims commissions.

Sharifah: You mean Nigerian Christians also go on pilgrimage and have a special commission established for that?

Binta: It is a peculiar situation but the politics of sharing national resources also extends into the religious sphere. Around 1986 Christians started demanding for government involvement in their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They said government was favouring Muslims by spending money on administration of Hajj and sponsoring people to perform the pilgrimage. They wanted their share of the cake, free tickets to Jerusalem and sponsorship of officials to accompany them who will earn allowances. Their Muslim counterparts from Islamic civil society organisations found it ridiculous and told them that Hajj was a private affair which Muslims have been organizing from time immemorial. They were instead asking government to reduce its involvement in Hajj organizing to regulatory and provision of consular services in order to make it more efficient and accountable.

Sharifah: We do not have any Christian pilgrimage commission in Malaysia and I don’t know of any country that has one.

Hadiza: Nigeria is a unique case. Just before I came on this journey two citizens of generated some controversy in the press on the budget expended on pilgrimage. Apparently a columnist had criticized the amount expended on pilgrimage and it generated interesting discussion.

Binta: I did not see the original article that triggered the controversy but I read the rejoinder where one Muhammed Ajah was responding to a columnist who expressed amazement at the size of the pilgrimage budget. He said “Hajj is not about religious tourism to Makkah and Madinah. Hajj is a fundamental timespecific, spot-specific, manner/ condition-specific and financially tasking Islamic obligation. It was instituted by a divine injunction of the Holy Qur’an and practically exemplified by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) It is to be fulfilled by Muslims despite challenges that may be associated with it in terms of funding, political interference, national/natural infringement or even global conspiracy.

Hadiza: Muhammed Ajah said he was responding to a columnist who mentioned three out of ten things that amaze him about modern Nigeria. The three things he discussed in the said publication started with the much talked about but misconstrued (in the Nigerian context) holy pilgrimages to Makkah by the Muslim faithful and to Jerusalem by the Christians. The second was the educational backwardness of the north and the third the how Nigerians troop out of their country other third world countries in search of medical attention. Of course there are some controversial issues concerning the holy journeys to Makkah and Jerusalem every year.

Binta: I support Muhammed Ajah when he called on Nigerian governments at all levels to control waste of public funds on religious duties is commendable. He also made it clear that Muslims do not rely on government to fund their pilgrimage. He also made it clear that Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, with the strict condition of ability to pay ones way to and from the holy land. He underscored the fact that pilgrimage to Makkah predates the existence of Nigeria and therefore cannot stop even if government does not pay a kobo or subsidize anything attached to hajj. A clear evidence to support this is the fact that the number of Nigerian Muslims who embark on the non-compulsory lesser hajj (Umrah) is five times more than those who go on hajj despite government’s direct noninvolvement in it.

Sharifah: In Malaysia, we do have a savings scheme for Hajj to enable people save for the journey. It is managed by Tabung Hajj, our own equivalent of a Hajj Commission. Tabung hajj has investments that sustain it without relying on government. I recommend it you.

Hadiza: On the cost of pilgrimage, the columnist quoted part of the Stephen Oronsaye Panel’s reports, which showed that the federal government expended N6.449 billion on matters relating to pilgrimages between 2007 and 2011. I felt it was a ridiculous observation that a panel with such calibre of people could suggest non funding of pilgrimage administration by government because of the amount involved.

Binta: Muhammad Ajah argued that the amount is peanuts when compared to what the federal government and some rich states expend on things that do not benefit a percentage of Nigeria’s population? This amount is usually expended largely on medical, consular and security services which are the constitutional rights on the government for the citizenry wherever they are.

Hadiza: Muhammed Ajah also said that the federal government does not favour only Muslim and Christian pilgrimages. He said billions of naira is yearly and secretly paid for services to pagan priests. He mentioned one case the huge sums of money allegedly paid by a former head of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to pagan priests were just a tip in the iceberg. He said many Nigerians visit the same India that Mr. Alibi mentioned and several other parts of the world for their individual spiritual elevation and power acquisition. How does this huge amount spent on Indian priests benefit poor Nigerians? It is still the officials from government agencies and business personalities who suck from the public funds.

Binta: He said performance of Hajj is now easier and much sought even with the ever increasing hajj fares? So, if government withdraws the little subsidies it grants Muslims and Christians – who constitute 90% of the nation’s population that will not stop performance of Hajj.

Hadiza: the call for scrapping pilgrimage commissions in Nigeria or withdrawal of subsidies from pilgrimage related-matters cannot be a strategy for promoting the development of Nigeria. The establishment of the Hajj Commission was in response to a long search for a permanent solution to the perennial problems that bedevilled hajj operations in the past and the embarrassment such past failures brought to the Nigerian government.

Happily today, as many Nigerians would testify, the Commission has delivered its mandate to a satisfactory level and it is being commended by the international community. Religion is an integral part of human life and government should not be steered away from it.