The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued over 6.28 million visas for Umrah pilgrims, with an estimated 900,000 expected in Makkah this Ramadan, according to Ministry of Hajj. While Ramadan is becoming a popular umrah season for South Africans, it’s unclear how many plan to perform the pilgrimage during the[…]
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, who heads the Council of Senior Scholars, has urged Muslims who have undertaken many Umrah trips to refrain for entering Makkah, so that others have a chance to perform the rituals. Al-Asheikh said it was possible that those Muslims who refuse to consider the[…]
The National Transformation Program of 2020, one of the initiatives of the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision, stated that the annual increase of Haj pilgrims to the Kingdom stands at 13 percent. However, annually increasing in Umrah visitors will be 30 percent. According to the National Transformation Program, whose details were announced[…]
Investors in Makkah’s pilgrim housing facilities expect 90 percent occupancy in the first 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan when hundreds of thousands of faithful from all over the world arrive to perform Umrah and take part in special night prayers. Hotels outside Makkah expect an occupancy rate[…]
The governor of the holy city of Madina, Prince Faisal bin Salman, is following up on all arrangements made by government bodies in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan. He emphasized the need for all services offered to be at the most decent and suitable level, and worthy of the[…]
As many as 5,047,088 Umrah pilgrims have so far arrived in the Kingdom since the start of the season early November, local daily Al-Madina reported on Wednesday quoting official data. According to the data, the number of Umrah pilgrims is five percent more than their number in the same period[…]
‘Allah has blessed you with two masha-Allah grandchildren,’ he was told. Some said that the babies were going to consume all his energies, they were going to fill up any free second that he may have, and that they were going to open new avenues leading to paths to excitedly[…]
Despite hajj drawing closer, the South African Hajj and Umrah Council’s (Sahuc) hajj accreditation list, which was recently released, failed to attract the required notice of acceptance of applicants. Sahuc president Shaheen Essop said that applicants had until the 6 May 2016 to accept their accreditation, which was released on[…]
When your name gets called in the thrown room, you know you’ve hit the jackpot! Ramadan of 1998 was my first trip for Umrah. A gift from my parents for graduating from The University of Michigan. I remember descending into the valley of Mecca like it was yesterday— moving closer[…]
This forms part of a series of hajj stories written by Cape Town doctor Salim Parker. It is currently being published monthly on his website www.hajjdoctor.co.za. ‘Please do not exert yourself. Yes, you are young, healthy and pregnancy is a natural state. However you are on Hajj, and Hajj is a[…]
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