Syed Ali Ahmed | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, JUNE 9—The Haj Committee of India (HCoI) has offered to return 100 per cent of the advance amount the Haj pilgrims have paid if they want to cancel their Haj journey this year.
The announcement has been made following lack of communication from the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah with regard to the preparation for the Haj pilgrimage. As per Islamic calendar, the Haj this year is scheduled to begin on July 28 and conclude on August 2, 2020.
“As only few weeks are left for the preparatory work in India for Haj 2020, yet Saudi authorities have not communicated any further development regarding Haj 2020”, said a circular issued by HCoI chief executive officer (CEO) Dr. Maqsood Ahmed Khan.
He said that the last message the Saudi authorities sent to HCoI was on March 13, 2020, asking the committee to temporary halt the preparations for Haj 2020 owing to the coronavirus outbreak. According to HCoI, there was no further communication from the Saudi authorities on this issue.
He said that as there was only few weeks left to begin preparations for the Haj pilgrimage like arranging flights from India to Saudi Arabia and transportation of pilgrims from the airports to Mecca and Madinah, it was practically not possible to make all these arrangements at a short notice particularly when the number of pilgrims are about two lakhs. Dr. Khan said that he had so far received 500 applications for cancellation and return of money from the applicants.
The Haj Committee has this year cleared the applications of around 2 lakh Haj pilgrims out of which 1.5 lakh were to go through Haj committee and the rest through private tour operators.
According to Dr. Khan, about 1.10 lakh pilgrims had already deposited almost 100 per cent of the Haj amount.
The CEO said that pilgrims who desired to cancel their Haj journey could fill up the cancellation form attached with the circular and also available on the Haj Committee website. The desired candidate should email the form to [email protected] along with a copy of bank pass book or cancelled cheque to enable return of their money.
Saudi Arabia is also in the grip of coronavirus pandemic and number of positive Covid-19 cases have crossed one lakh in the kingdom and several hundreds have died of the infection so far. The Kingdom has also suspended all international as also domestic flights to prevent spread of the pandemic.
Saudi Arabia has also suspended large congregational prayers even in Haram Sharief in Mecca and Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah owing to the pandemic. Though Taraweeh, special Ramzan night prayers took place in both the mosques but with only a people attending it while maintaining social distance. It has also suspended Umrah indefinitely in view of the pandemic.
Haj Cancelled Many Times In The Past
If the Haj is cancelled this year, it will not be something unprecedented in the history of Islam. It has happened many times in the past, owing to different reasons. According to a statement issued by the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for research and Archives last week, there were 40 occasions in the history of islam when the Haj was either cancelled or the number of pilgrims was reduced owing to various reasons. The Haj was cancelled in 930 AD when Qamartian tribe from the present-day Bahrain attacked Mecca and killed over 30,000 people. They also desecrated the well of Zamzam and took away Hajr-e-Aswad, the Black Stone set in a coroner of Kaaba which was restore after 20 years. The Haj was also suspended in 1837 and 1846 due to outbreak of cholera outbreak.
The Haj was also cancelled in 865 AD when a rebellion against the then Abbasid Caliphate resulted in killing of thousands of pilgrims at Arafat Mountain.
