Fewer pilgrims permitted on hajj
SAUDI Arabia has reduced the quota for the number of pilgrims — including those from South Africa — wanting to attend the annual hajj in the kingdom, owing to an expansion of the Grand Mosque.
In a letter to the South African Hajj and Umrah Council, the Saudi minister of hajj, Bandar bin Mohammed Hajjar, apologised for the inconvenience.
The South African council had asked for an increase of 500 pilgrims to attend. But, said Hajjar, the capacity of the ‘mataf’ — the open white area immediately around the Ka’bah, the holy shrine in the Grand Mosque — could not accommodate the large volume of pilgrims.
“We asked all the countries to reduce their quota by 20% from their official quota,” Hajjar wrote. “No increases will be granted until the expansion project by the government of the two holy mosques is completed.”
Work on the mosques are expected to take about three years to complete. It will increase the crowd capacity from 52 000 to 130 000 pilgrims.
Hajj is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world and one of the five pillars of Islam. Up to 2.5 million people attend every year.
Shaheen Ayub Essop, secretary-general of the South African Hajj and Umrah Council, said: “We are cognisant of the expansion and we have already notified the pilgrims.”
He said 500 people had been cut from this year’s pilgrimage, but they would be first on the list to attend next year.
“We really feel for people who have prepared themselves to attend this year, but there’s nothing we can do.” — Monica Laganparsad