Discover the Surprising Revelation: Only a Select Few are Allowed to Embark on an Unforgettable Hajj Journey in Saudi Arabia!

The Hajj, a religious pilgrimage for Muslims and one of the largest gatherings of humans on Earth, begins in Saudi Arabia on June 26 and ends on July 1.

The number of people who made the pilgrimage to visit the Kaaba, or House of God, in Mecca was drastically reduced during Pandemic of covid-19. This year it will return to normal again, with around 2.6 million Muslim pilgrims expected to make the journey.

Performing Hajj is an important part of Islamic faith. Just as an observant and skilled Muslim is expected to regularly pray, give alms and fast during the month of Ramadan, going on pilgrimage, i.e. performing Hajj, is considered one of the five pillars of the belief system.

Hajj takes place every year in a prescribed manner for six days during the 12th month of the Islamic calendar.

However, there are around 2 billion Muslims worldwide and given the numbers involved, that would be impossible Saudi Arabia to accommodate everyone who wants to perform Hajj at a specific time. For this reason, the Saudi government designates a quota for various countries indicating how many people from that nation can come to Mecca in a year.

In general, the rule is about one pilgrim for every 1,000 Muslims in Muslim-majority countries. This is something that was agreed upon at the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1987.

For example, in Indonesia, about 88% of the approximately 276 million inhabitants are Muslims. This year, Indonesia’s quota for Hajj was just over 230,000.

While the Saudis specify quotas, the actual travel is usually facilitated within the country. Many countries have their own internal lottery or quota and qualification systems for figuring out how to distribute Saudi Hajj visas.

Some, such as Indonesia, require applicants to pay a fee to be entered into a lottery or, if they are not drawn, to be placed on a waiting list. Quota systems in Indonesia and elsewhere mean that many Muslims around the world would have to wait years, sometimes decades, to perform Hajj.

Other countries, such as Jordan, may ask for pilgrims’ dates of birth via a registration website. They can also verify that the individual has never been on Hajj before. This is so that older Muslims can perform Hajj before they die, and those who have never been have a chance to go.

Corruption allegations with Hajj quota system

In the past, domestic national systems have led to all sorts of controversies, as well as allegations of corruption, mismanagement and favouritism.

For example, senior officials in India have been accused of distributing more than the Saudi share to some local tour operators in exchange for bribes. In Pakistan in 2014, politicians were implicated in a corruption probe into the mismanagement of a fund that would-be pilgrims pay to secure a place on a waiting list. Potential pilgrims also speculated that Saudi embassy staff make money by selling Hajj visas.

It is a different situation in countries where Muslims form a religious minority. Until recently, Muslims living in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Union did not have to deal with a quota system and tended to be able to go on pilgrimages more or less as they pleased.

Travel is usually facilitated by local travel agencies, often affiliated with Muslim community organizations or mosques, who specialize in preparing clients for Hajj. Many of the travel agencies are approved by Saudi Arabia, which gives them a number of Hajj visas to hand out. Western pilgrims usually have to purchase a tour package – this includes visa, flight, accommodation and other services that Hajj missions normally perform – in order to travel. These agencies tended to sell Hajj travel packages on a first come, first serve basis.

That all changed in early June 2022 when the Saudi government launched its own online platform called Motawif. Unexpectedly, he told would-be pilgrims in 57 countries, mostly in the so-called West, to cancel all pre-existing reservations and individually register their interest in Hajj on the website. In effect, this has also cut out the specialist travel operators who had previously acted as intermediaries.

The number of Western Muslims who can perform Hajj has decreased since then. Some have lamented the loss of this privilege, but other observers have pointed out that the decreases are roughly in line with the one-to-1,000 ratio. For example, the UK is home to around 3.8 million Muslims. Before the pandemic, around 25,000 British Muslims performed Hajj on a regular basis. But the new system awards just 3,600 Hajj visas to the UK.

Saudi authorities said they made the changes to crack down about Hajj scams and travel agency subcontractors, but some analysts believe the move was more cost-effective in nature. Both religious travel and tourism they are a major part of the oil-rich Gulf state’s attempts to diversify its national income away from oil. The country earns between $8 and 12 billion (€10.9 billion) from a regular Hajj season and wants to rapidly increase the number of regular pilgrims and tourists.

Last year’s sudden change from the Saudis caused a huge number of complaints, with prospective pilgrims left unsure whether they could travel to Saudi Arabia until shortly before their departure. Some were turned away at airports or denied boarding even though they had paid for a Hajj package. Others are still waiting for their money back.

This year, Saudi Arabia launched another website, Nusuk, with the same purpose. However, would-be pilgrims have already reported problems, with a social media hashtag, #nusukedpicking up a litany of complaints.

Selection process for Hajj quota system kept “opaque”

Most of those affected by this year’s and last year’s system changes said they have not received a response from the Saudi authorities to their requests.

“The kingdom chooses to keep the quota system as opaque as possible to use it as a political tool to reward its allies and punish its opponents,” said Turan Kayaoglu, professor of international relations at the University of Washington in the United States. In a 2020 editorial for The Brookings Institution. “Also, Saudi Arabia can facilitate or prevent the issuance of visas. For example, under the Saudi blockade, Qatari pilgrims were effectively denied performing Hajj because many had difficulty obtaining visas.”

Kayaoglu argued that it would have been better if the Hajj quota system and logistics management were entrusted to a more international body, rather than allowing the Saudis to use it for their own political purposes. It’s an important ritual that should belong to all Muslims, he said.

Ihsan Yilmaz, a professor at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, sees the firm Saudi grip on Hajj visas as a form of soft power, a way to convince more Muslims of the Saudi version of Islam.

“The Saudis have used this soft power as much as possible,” wrote Yilaz, who is the chair of the university’s Islamic studies department. a 2022 article for the Australian Institute of International Affairs. “They have always known that Hajj presents a great opportunity to win the hearts and minds of millions of pilgrims.”

Saudi Arabia also frequently hosts Muslim elites — scholars, journalists, political leaders — for Hajj, Yilmaz added. “Indeed, many opinion leaders in Muslim countries have been hesitant to criticize the Saudis, fearing that they would not be allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj,” she suggested.

For those Muslims who miss the Hajj, there is also another option known as Umrah. This causes the pilgrim to travel the same route, but this shorter journey can be taken at any time of the year. Approximately 19 million Muslims undertake this journey each year, and Saudi Arabia issues these visas much more freely.

Edited by: Martin Kuebler