Haji 2021: What's the latest update on this year's pilgrimage?

Last year, Muslims around the world were denied the opportunity of fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam - namely the Haji pilgrimage - due to the pandemic.

As the Haji season imminently approaches, there hasn't been any definitive answer to alleviate the concerns of would-be pilgrims on whether or not they would be able to travel to Saudi Arabia this year.

Muslims around the world understandably fear missing yet another opportunity to perform their religious obligation.  

So will pilgrims be able to perform the Haji this year?

Haji news 2021 - the current situation

On May 9, the government of Saudi Arabia announced the resumption of the Haji pilgrimage this year for both Saudi and foreign pilgrims through the Saudi Ministry of Haji and Umrah.

The ministry also stated that stringent security and regulatory measures would be in place to ensure the safety and health of pilgrims, with the specifics of these safety measures to be revealed at a later date.  

However, as of early June, less than 50 days until the start of the Haji season on July 18 to 19, no new details regarding the Haji policy 2021 have emerged.

The Saudi authorities have stressed that they're keen to enable Muslims around the world to perform the Haji rituals. However, the safety of pilgrims would take precedent.   

The world is anxiously waiting

Pakistan stated its readiness to prepare any and all arrangements regarding Haji pilgrims as soon as the official guidelines have been announced by Saudi Arabia.

In the meantime, Pakistan will continue to wait as the facilitation of pilgrims is largely dependant upon the announcement of the official Haji policy.

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The Pakistani government also advises its citizens against making Haji-related bookings. Since Saudi Arabia hasn't formally announced the quota yet, any bookings made prior to the official announcement will be deemed illegal.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, will decide this week if it will take part in the Haji this year.

Indonesia's Minister of Religious Affairs stated that no haji-related preparations have been completed, including flight contracts, travel documents, and payment processes. Said preparations can only be arranged once the official quota has been officially allocated by the Saudi government. 

As time is of the essence, it's becoming increasingly likely that Indonesian Muslims will not be able to perform Haji this year. However, nothing is certain as of yet.

Haji current requirements and rules

We do know that entry to Saudi Arabia in terms of Haji pilgrimage will require all pilgrims to be fully vaccinated. As per Saudi Arabia's entry the vaccine requirements is as follows:

• Two doses of Pfizer BioNTech
• Two doses of Oxford AstraZeneca
• Two doses of Moderna
• One dose of Johnson & Johnson

The duration between receiving the last dose (the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or the first dose of a single dose vaccine) must not be less than 14 days. 

Furthermore, it's been reported that Saudi Arabia has decided that 60,000 pilgrims are allowed to perform Haji this year.

From that total number, 15,000 will be allocated to local pilgrims while the rest of the world will have to be content with the remaining quota of 45,000. Naturally, the world is anxiously awaiting Saudi Arabia's final decision on quota allocation.

This article was first published in Wego.