The New Nation - Internet Edition

Md. Abu Abdullah

The first ever Hajj Festival of Bangladesh took place form 05 to 07 June 2008. It drew the attention of people from all walks of life. Fifty Hajj agencies - small and big, attended the festival, said Moulana Yakub Sharafati, Secretary General of Hajj Agencies of Association of Bangladesh (HAAB). The agencies detailed their previous experiences and prospective provisions of Hajj. The prospective pilgrims had a chance to compare and contrast different packages offered by the Hajj agencies. In the inaugural ceremony of the festival, Hon'ble Adviser for Religious Affairs Mr. Hasan Arif urged on extending appropriate services to the pilgrims. Secretary for Religious Affairs Mr. Ataur Rahman winded up the festival.

Hajj, the largest congregation of the world is one of the five basic tinnets of Islam. Every year millions of muslims gather in the holy land of Makkah in the quest of eternal peace and salvation. To manage this mammoth mob is a daunting task, especially for the receiving country Saudi Arabia and also for the bigger muslim countries every year. Bangladesh , being the third largest muslim country of the globe, experiences this phenomenon every year. As the day advances, the Hajj management system is becoming more complex, time and money consuming, compounded with limitations of resources. It is therefore high time, a comprehensive Hajj management system should be in place to extend better services to the pedestrians on the road to Makkah.

In 2007, the number of Hajjis who performed pilgrimage under government and private management were 5512 and 42229 respectively. Complaints against Hajj management is nothing new. The Hajj management has evolved in the course of time. The perspective pilgrims managed by government deposit money in banks. In private sectors irregularity starts from the very deposition of money. Sometimes the Hajj of aspirants, deposit their money to some unauthorized persons simply because of familiarity. On occasions, the money is given without any document which is totally illegal, not to speak. As per the government procedure, the money should be deposited to the bank accounts of the approved Hajj agencies, with due receipt.

A slight deviation of the Dhaka-Jeddah flight schedules of the pilgrims carrier planes results in serious sufferings. At the outset of the pilgrims season many flights remain unfilled due to unwilling of the Hajjis to fly in advance. It leads to an increased load of passengers later on. The Saudi authorities finalise the schedules of all the flight carrying pilgrims from all over the world at least six month ahead of Hajj, leaving no time for flight adjustment at the last moment.

After embarkation in the Jeddah airport the responsibility of road transport to Makkah and Madina goes to the Muallams, who in exchange of money serve the hajjis in the two holy cities. At times no bus is available there; mistime of flights also disrupts the transportation of Hajjis.

The housings of Makkah have been built at the hilltop or the slope of the mountains over the last centuries. The terrain surrounding the holy Kabba is mountainous. So, the rents of hotels and houses in close proximity of Kabba are relatively higher. The comprehensive hajj packages of 2,16,782 and 1,99,112 taka have been determined on the condition of staying in houses situated at a distance of 1000 meter and 1500 meters respectively.

Many a pilgrim desires to stay close to the holy Kaba at a relatively higher expense. This year on basis of the accommodation, services, proximity to the holy Kabba etc. the private Hajj agencies, have declared Hajj packages ranging from 2,20,000 to 9,00,000 per person.

There are numerous complaints as to the standard of meal from the pilgrims in general. Dietary habit is an individual affair. It is not easy to accommodate meal abroad considering differences of locality, age difference, solvency and personal choice.

The pilgrims flock to the holy city of Modina to offer ziarat to the shrine of Prophet Mohammad (sm) and to say 40 wakts of salat in the mosque of the prophet. Here the pilgrims are accommodated for eight days as a routine. Any breach in the routine disrupts the system as a whole. At times the pilgrims face problems owing to their ignorance of rituals in Meen, Murzalifa and Arafat. This is why training is a must before approaching for hajj.

By the mercy of Allah the Hajj has been solemnized smoothly every year. Muslims from the different part of the world with different languages and cultures persevere all havocs patiently with the hope of performing the pilgrimage with purity and piety. Their are desire is but appeasement of the Allah. Each muslim of the world aspires to observe the compulsory Hajj once in the life time. The Hajj appears at the end of each year and the Hajjis too continue to congregate in Mekkah years after years.

Islamic Religious Council of Singapore organized a conference titled, "Singapore International Hajj Seminar" on 17 May 2008. The theme of the seminar was "sharing experiences of Hajj amongst muslim minority countries" in the Asia-Pacific region. About thirty-two participants from 15 Muslim minority countries along with representatives from Brunei , Indonesia and Malaysian muslims attended the seminar.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Dr YAACOB Ibrahim inaugurated the seminar. He explained the measures taken by his government on Hajj.

Hisham Al-Mominah, Chairman of Mominah Establishment and Talah, Jeddah presented a special paper in the seminar on "The Management of Hajj for Muslim Minority countries in the 21st Century". Mr. Abdul Halim Mohammad Amin, Head of Hajj Services of Islamic Religious council of Singapore and Ustad Tengu Mohammad Fouzy President, Association of Muslim Travel Agents of Singapore explained Hajj management system and their services.

During sharing experiences, Sulaiman C. Mutia, Hajj Attaché of the Philippines in Jeddah said that there were 13 ethno-linguistic muslim groups in the country and last year 4871 had performed Hajj from the Philippines . Community radio stations and Mosque Imams educate to perform hajj and every year about 5000 perform Hajj, said Ibrahim Sayed Ismail, Chairperson of the South African Hajj and Umrah council. Haji Nadimah Abdat, a Hajj services provider of Sydney , Australia said, "they provide services to different ethnic backgrounds of different mazhabs and different countries of the world". Assistant Attaché of British High Commission in Singapore said, last year 25000 British had performed Hajj. He said, Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Civil Aviation Authority had run a media awareness campaign, to help Hajj pilgrims become aware of the range of rights available and encourage them to be responsible when choosing a Hajj service provider. Haji Mohammad Yousuf, member, Jamiya Islamic community of Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam said, time and money spent to get Hajj visa at the Saudi Embassy in Thailand and rising cost of Hajj were main challenges for them.

Major problems of Hajj for these muslim minority countries are to organize the scattered Muslims for Hajj, getting visa where there is no Saudi embassy, Hajj flight, accommodation at Makka etc. Everybody complained about the small Hajj quota given to them by the Saudi authority. They opined to inform the matter to the Saudi authority as well as to the OIC.

They shared experiences of evaluation of Hajj management, role of Islamic Councils and Organization on Hajj, legal framework on Hajj management, quality of Hajj services, role of Hajj travel agents, introduction of Health and transport Insurance for better Hajj management.

About the outcome of the seminar, one participant said that exchanging experience among the participants, further cooperation would increase and better hajj management would be ensured in future.

The participants of the seminar also learnt about the mosque management, wakf administration and development, inter faith programmes and Halal Food Certification system of Singapore .

The counties of the world are now interacting more than any time before. By sharing experience they could pave the way for a better hajj management in the future days to come. People related to hajj management in Bangladesh could take lessons from their experiences and replicate those in forming our own hajj management system.