Saudi Arabia To Hold ‘Very Limited’ Hajj Due To Virus

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that because of the coronavirus only “very limited numbers” of people will be allowed to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage that traditionally draws around 2 million Muslims from around the world.

The decision comes after weeks of speculation over whether Saudi Arabia would cancel the pilgrimage altogether or allow the hajj to be held in symbolic numbers. It’s unclear why the government waited until just five weeks before the hajj to announce its decision, but the timing indicates the sensitivity around major decisions concerning the hajj that affect Muslims around the world.

Saudi kings have for generations assumed titles as custodians of Islam’s holiest sites, and their oversight of the hajj is a source of prestige and influence among Muslims globally. The hajj also generates around $6 billion in revenue for the government every year.

Saudi Arabia has never canceled the hajj in the nearly 90 years since the country was founded.

The government said its decision to drastically limit the number of pilgrims was aimed at preserving global public health due to the lack of a vaccine for the virus or a cure for those infected, as well as the risks associated with large gatherings of people.

The hajj is one of the biggest gatherings on earth, with pilgrims staying in close confines and walking and praying shoulder-to-shoulder. A stampede in 2015 caused more than 2,400 deaths.

“This decision was taken to ensure hajj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective,” the government statement said.

The kingdom’s Ministry of Hajj said only people of various nationalities already residing in the country would be allowed to perform the large pilgrimage, which is set to begin this year at the end of July.

The government did not specify how many people would be permitted to take part.

The hajj centers around five intense days of worship and rituals in Mecca, however pilgrims typically begin arriving to Saudi Arabia through its main gateway city of Jiddah weeks and even months in advance.

Saudi Arabia said its “top priority is to always enable Muslim pilgrims to perform the hajj and umrah rites safely and securely.”

It defended its decision on religious grounds, as well, saying that the teachings of Islam require the preservation of human life. Saudi Arabia’s top council of clerics swiftly issued a statement saying the decision is line with Islamic Shariah law.

Low Hajj attendance expected due to coronavirus

Saudi Arabians make up less than a third of the annual hajj. The country said it will allow only “very limited numbers” to perform this year's pilgrimage that traditionally draws around 2 million Muslims from around the world.

Saudi Arabia

Outside SA

3,500,000

X

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

989,798

1,099,522

1,408,641

600,718

696,185

567,876

537,537

600,108

612,953

634,379

1,799,601

1,828,195

1,752,932

1,379,531

1,389,053

1,384,941

1,325,372

1,752,014

1,758,722

1,855,027

2020 figures are expected to be released on Aug. 19.

Performing the hajj is central to Islam and one of the religion’s five pillars. All able-bodied Muslims are required to perform the hajj once in their lifetime, with many saving money their entire lives to afford the journey.

The hajj is seen as a chance to wipe clean past sins and start fresh. Pilgrims shed symbols of materialism, as women forgo makeup and perfume and wear loose-fitting clothing and a head covering, while men dress in seamless, white terrycloth garments meant to emphasize the equality of all Muslims before God.

Despite taking early and unprecedented measures to control the spread of the virus domestically, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of coronavirus infections in the Middle East, with more than 161,000 total confirmed cases and 1,307 deaths.

The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most people, who recover within a few weeks. But it is highly contagious and can cause severe illness or death, particularly in older patients or those with underlying health problems.

Saudi Arabia had already suspended the smaller year-round umrah pilgrimage earlier this year and closed the Grand Mosque in Mecca, home to Islam’s holiest site, to the public. The city of Mecca was also under a strict 24-hour curfew for more than two months.

Although Saudi Arabia has lifted some restrictions in recent days, the umrah continues to be suspended and the country’s borders remain shut to visitors and tourists.

Indonesia and Malaysia, which combined send around a quarter-million Muslims to the hajj each year, had already announced they would not be sending their citizens to the pilgrimage this year, in part because it had become too late to prepare for it.

In an early indication of the uncertainty around this year’s hajj, the kingdom had asked Muslims in early April to delay making plans for the pilgrimage as the virus grew into a global pandemic, infecting millions around the world.

Violations Of Halal Guidelines Reported in Flying Food Group's LAX Operations

Kitchen employees at the Imperial Hwy. facility could not guarantee that food marketed as halal did not 

come into contact with haram(forbidden) or mushbooh (suspect) food products

In spite of policies and training programs that establish rules for halal compliance, a number of disturbing 

violations of halal guidelines have occurred in a Flying Food Group catering kitchen servicing Etihad flights

 out of Los Angeles.

Reported violations of these guidelines—which establish the foods Muslims are permitted to eat and how

 they are to be prepared — at the kitchen included:

• Preparation of deep fried items, including french fries and kibbeh, in fryers used for general food
•  preparation, including pork products;
• Comingling of halal and non-halal service items during preparation and washing, which was
•  sometimes done without soap or proper sanitizing processes;
• Preparation, storage and transportation of non-halal food in areas and with equipment designated
•  for halal use.

These reported violations may have resulted from working conditions and operational challenges within

 Flying Food Group. Surveys of employees in one of the company's Los Angeles kitchens have raised

 concerns about some employees' ability to work in a way that allows them to consistently protect

 themselves and the passengers they serve.

The halal travel advisory comes on the heels of a June 9 New York Times article, 

"Filth found in airline food operations at Los Angeles Airport."

The rapid growth of three Middle Eastern airlines — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar — has increased

 the demand for halal catering services at U.S. airports.  In June 2014, Etihad Airlines selected Flying

 Food to service its LAX to Abu Dhabi route — a 16-hour daily flight that can accommodate more than

 85,000 passengers annually.  As of June 2015, workers say that a dedicated halal kitchen for preparation

 of Etihad's meals was still not operational.

UNITE HERE is a labor union with over 270,000 members in the U.S. and Canada.  It represents over

 33,000 workers in the airline concessions and catering industries.

Muslim Visitors To Thailand Get Their Own App

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched its first App designed specifically for the growing number of Muslim visitors to find their way around the country.

The App for iOS and Android is both an online and offline guidebook that will help Muslim visitors find mosques, halal restaurants and hotels, shopping centres with prayer rooms, and other facilities of cultural importance to Muslim travellers.

A critical component of the newly-launched strategy to position as a Muslim friendly destination, the App is initially in English and Thai but will be expanded to include Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia later. It also has a very important search and navigation feature to help quickly locate specific places and estimate the time it will take to get there from a users’ current location.

It was developed with the support of the Halal Science Centre of Chulalongkorn University, the Foundation of the Islamic Centre of Thailand, Halal Standards Institute of Thailand and the Tourism Council of Thailand.

Mrs. Juthaporn Rerngronasa, Acting Governor, TAT, said, “We are especially happy to launch this App in the holy month of Ramadan. We hope it will be useful to the many Muslim visitors from Indonesia and Malaysia who may chose to visit Thailand during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr (Hari Raya) holidays at the end of the month.”

The Muslim-friendly destination strategy is primarily aimed at the 240 million-strong Islamic populations of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, which are expected to grow strongly after the ASEAN integration process advances from 2016 onwards.

Mrs Juthaporn said, “The Muslim population worldwide is about 1.6 billion, representing 23 percent of the total global population and, still, has plenty of room to grow. Thailand has great potential to serve this market. Today, we are seeing a whole new generation of young Thai-Muslims emerging nationwide, and it is very important for them to seek promising opportunities in the tourism sector.”

She noted that Thailand is already the top destination for Middle East travellers in Asia. Amongst the non-Muslim countries, Thailand is ranked second in the world by the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015.

Mrs Juthaporn said, “We believe this is because we have the required range of products and services for Muslim travellers. We are already seeing many of our shopping complexes providing facilities for Muslim prayers. Halal food is also becoming commonplace. We are also seeing increasing investor interest in developing halal-tourism hotels. All this is good for us because it will create jobs for our emerging younger generation and promote national inclusiveness and integration.”

TAT has also produced a number of guidebooks and brochures to help Muslim visitors; such as, “Halal Check-in Thailand (which contains a list of halal-certified restaurants) and Islamic Attractions in

Click here to download the app