With the sacred pilgrimage hanging in the balance, it’s clear now that South African hujjaj will not be performing hajj this year. This was the unprecedented decision taken at a meeting between South African Hajj and Umrah Council (Sahuc) and the Department of International Relations on Thursday, to discuss the feasibility of hajj during the coronavirus pandemic.

International relations minister Naledi Pandor has indicated that South Africa’s borders will be closed for commercial international travel, except for repatriation. This comes amid restrictions on international travel globally, to curb the movement of travellers. While Saudi Arabia remains tight-lipped about whether Hajj 1441 will go ahead, the Hajj Ministry has urged all countries to put their hajj arrangements on hold.

“As late as Wednesday evening, our contact with the Ministry of Hajj still gave no indication of when a date would be made for international hujjaj to come into Saudi. For all intents and purposes, hujjaj who had hoped to depart on the 21st or 22 June is a non-event. The majority of hujjaj from South Africa are 6-week pilgrims, so this puts a halt to those departures unfortunately,” said Sahuc president Shaheen Essop.

Essop said the hajj regulator held many discussions with its stakeholders to analyse the “permutations” of this crisis.

“What if the Saudi authorities decide on a reduced quota for two weeks. President Ramaphosa has indicted that level 3 of the lockdown will be in place until the 14th of July, which is the 25th Dhil Qaida. If a hajji departs then, they will spend two weeks in quarantine when they arrive in Saudi Arabia. Once they complete quarantine, it will be the 8th of Dhil Hijja. They will complete five days of hajj and spend another week in Makkah before returning to SA, for another two weeks in quarantine,” Essop explained.

“So you are away for four weeks, but you only experience two weeks, you won’t perform all your rituals and wont get an opportunity to go to Madina. From a logical perspective, it’s not the right thing to do.”

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Refunds

All accredited hujjaj will be de-accredited and their Sahuc deposit of R1500 will be refunded. Hujjaj must email info@sahuc.org.za
Hujjaj will need to make arrangements with their travel operator for a release from their contract and refund. Hajj operators have given the reassurance that there will be no administrative charges except in the case of cash deposit fees and external charges.

Accreditation

Accredited hujjaj will now go back into the ‘queue’ according to the date and time they have applied. Asked why hujjaj cannot hold onto their accreditation until next year, Essop explained that there were too many uncertainties at present.

“We don’t know how COVID19 will spread in the next 12 months or if a vaccine will be introduced. What if the Saudis decide to reduce the quota for each country, we don’t know that yet? By giving someone the opportunity to remain accredited, its like giving a false accreditation, as we do not have the quota to match the accreditation,” Essop explained.

South Africa’s decision follows that of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and several other countries, who have also put hajj on hold for their citizens.
With more than 7 million coronavirus cases globally, Essop says there are fears that the hajj could cause a second wave.

“We do not want to be the cause of a second wave of the pandemic that comes to South Africa or be accused that Muslims are responsible for spreading this virus further around the world. This is the overarching factor that we need to understand in terms of our deen.”

Asked whether Saudi Arabia could possibly host hajj for those within its own borders, Essop said this was a “possibility”.

“There is speculation that could happen, as you cannot cancel hajj in totality. If this is how Allah wills it, we have to have our faith in Allah SWT.”

Read Sahuc’s press release here:

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