Hajj Reporters
The immediate past Chairman of NAHCON, Barr Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammed MON, said that the “the prospect of there not being a Hajj this year is a source of anguish for Hajj Missions unable to fulfil their responsibility to their pilgrims, and intending pilgrims unable to perform the pilgrimage”
Barr Abdullahi Mukhtar was one of global experts on Hajj that came up with a blueprint of how Saudi Arabia should organise the Hajj this year.
The former NAHCON Boss spoke to World Hajj and Umrah Convention (WHUC) when the WHUC seeks for Hajj and Umrah experts’ opinions on the way forward for Hajj 2020 as contained in a Press statement made available to INDEPENDENT HAJJ REPORTERS on Thursday.
Mukhtar was quoted as saying that “the prospect of there not being a Hajj this year, becomes a source of anguish for businesses bearing heavy losses, Hajj Missions unable to fulfill their responsibility to their pilgrims, and intending pilgrims unable to perform the pilgrimage.
He explained that “another side of this shared anguish and pain belongs to the tens of thousands of Saudi people, raised in the culture of welcoming pilgrims; a people famed for having organised the pilgrimage for more than 1400 years, a generation for the first time in their history plagued and combating a foreign virus in the holiest cities, having to tell Muslims around the world, please have patience, we are doing our best, we cannot risk anyone’s life and in need of your prayers as we pray for you also.
The COVID 19 pandemic has put a physical distance between us as human beings, two people together are a potential harm for each other, we no longer shake hands or embrace each other, rather we keep a two meter distance and wonder who did the other person meet today and where did he go.
Mukhtar however, praised the leadership of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in their “attempts to facilitate industry needs at the same speed, as they have done in the previous years. He said that “the best decisions are often made face—to—face, thousands of important meetings are usually had before the largest annual mass gathering convenes, being reduced to virtual meetings online and applying remote working practices”.
“The Saudi society, a proud nation, home of the Kaabah and the holiest and most beloved cities of Makkah and Madinah, have always embraced the millions of pilgrims from around the world; welcoming not only as hosts but as believers in the virtues shared by our noble prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdallah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him”.
