by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh : Saudi Arabia has granted 2.664 million visas for pilgrims to perform Umrah this year, a 2.79 per cent up over the corresponding period last year, according to official statistics released on Friday.
Up till now, 2.250 million pilgrims have entered the kingdom to perform Umrah, a growth of 3.47 per cent over the same period last year, the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah said.
Up to 1.9 million pilgrims have already performed Umrah to date and left the Kingdom, an increase of 3.05 per cent over the same period.
Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Unlike Haj, Umrah can be undertaken any time of the year.
—IANS/WAM
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jeddah : More than 19 million pilgrims have performed Umrah in 2017, according to a report by Saudi Arabia’s General Statistics Authority, Al Ekhbariya news website reported.
The statistics released as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 contain numbers of pilgrims who performed Umrah from within Saudi Arabia and abroad last year, as well as other figures based on records by the Hajj and Umrah ministry.
Through this report, the Kingdom aims to establish a database on the pilgrims visiting the Kingdom to perform Umrah in a bid to help decision makers implement regulations that serve pilgrims and aid their Umrah process.
Statistics have shown that 19,079,306 pilgrims have performed Umrah in 2017. Among these were 6,532,074 pilgrims who came from abroad, according to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah records.
While those who performed Umrah from Saudis and non-Saudis within the Kingdom were 12,547,232, based on the authority’s survey.
The percentage of Saudi pilgrims was 46.9, and non-Saudi pilgrims from inside the kingdom was 53.1. The domestic Umrah pilgrims consist of 46.3% males and 37.7% females.
Results also have shown that the month of Ramadan is the most popular time of the year pilgrims choose to perform Umrah.
The pilgrims who performed Umrah during Ramadan last year was 53.6% of the total pilgrims.
The King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah recorded the highest percentage of pilgrims’ arrival from overseas, around 62.5%. While Umrah pilgrims who arrived in Prince Mohamad bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Madinah was 25.7%.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Muslim World, Networking, Social Media, Technology
Jeddah : The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Thursday launched the upgraded version of its Manasikana (our rituals) application for smartphones.
The app, designed to educate pilgrims on the rituals of Hajj and Umrah, offers a package of electronic services for the guests of Allah during their stay at the holy sites, the Ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
These services include satellite-based maps of the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, guidelines on how to perform the rituals orderly and safely, as well as emergency numbers and feedback on anything related to Hajj.
The new easy-to-use version of the app is available in seven languages, Arabic, English, French, Urdu, Malay, Turkish, and Bengali.
—AG/IINA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Makkah, (IINA) – About seven million Umrah pilgrims are expected to arrive during the remaining two weeks of Shaaban and during the fasting month of Ramadan. They will be served by thousands of employees who want to guarantee the pilgrims’ safety and comfort in Makkah and Madinah, Arab News reported Monday.
Umrah pilgrims come through various entrypoints, the most important ones being King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah. The kingdom uses all its powers to receive the pilgrims and facilitate all procedures until they reach Makkah and Madinah.
Mohammad Bejawi of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Madinah said that Egypt ranked first in terms of the grant of Umrah visas this year with 1,275,785 visas.
Pakistan came second with 918,063 visas; Indonesia third with 655,163 visas, followed by India with 436,000 visas; Turkey with 439,000, Jordan with 343,000, Algeria 313,000, Malaysia 211,000, Iraq 183,000, and Britain with 77,000. He noted that there were 695,000 coming from several other countries.
Abdul Wahid Al-Hattab of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques reviewed the operational plan for Umrah season, which includes plans for 5,000 employees in cooperation with all service directorates.
He said the presidency offers cool Zamzam water inside the Prophet’s Mosque and Grand Mosque. He confirmed that prayer areas have been laid with good quality carpets inside and on the roof of the two mosques and that the areas are kept clean around the clock.
He said the Prophet’s Mosque’s yards have been provided with 436 fans to offer cool surroundings and 250 shades to protect pilgrims from the heat of the sun.
He pointed out that 100 gates and six pedestrian paths have been allocated to worshippers in addition to 20 carts for the elderly and the disabled.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh, (IINA) – Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Thursday that the Iranian delegation had refused to sign an agreement laying out arrangements for this year’s Hajj, Saudi Gazette reported.
The ministry said Iran has decided to ban its citizens from performing the pilgrimage. “Iran is the only country that refused to sign the agreement on Hajj. It insisted on a number of unacceptable conditions”, the ministry’s statement, carried by SPA, said, adding that Iran’s demands included the granting of visas inside Iran and transport arrangements that would evenly split the pilgrims between Saudi and Iranian airlines.
The Kingdom welcomes all pilgrims from around the world and from all nationalities and sectarian backgrounds and does not stop any Muslim from visiting the holy cities, but the visits must occur within the system and guidelines that organize Hajj affairs, the ministry said.
It also clarified that the Saudi authorities never imposed any ban on Iranian pilgrims from visiting the Kingdom to perform Umrah. “Instead, the ban had come from the part of the Iranian government since they take it as one of its many ways to put pressure on the Saudi government”, the statement said.
The ministry stated that Saudi Arabia’s “leadership, government and people welcome and are honored to serve Hajj and Umrah pilgrims as well as visitors to the two holy mosques from all nationalities, considering this service as the most important Islamic duty”.
Every year, the ministry invites officials responsible for pilgrimage affairs from Arab and Islamic countries, as well as f non-Muslim countries with a considerable Muslim population to visit the Kingdom to examine and discuss the arrangements and requirements for pilgrims from their respective countries. At least 78 countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, send their delegates to such talks every year.
Referring to this year’s Hajj arrangements, the ministry said that President of the Hajj Organization of Iran Saeed Oouhdi had been invited to come to the Kingdom to discuss the arrangements of Iranian pilgrims in line with a letter from the Minister of Hajj. Accordingly, a delegation headed by Oouhdi arrived and reviewed with the ministry officials all matters related with the Iranian pilgrims.
However, the delegation refused to sign the minutes of the agreement unless some conditions are met. Their demands included granting visas to their pilgrims from inside Iran and dividing transportation of pilgrims between the Saudi and Iranian airlines, contrary to the internationally recognized practice.
As for issuance of visas, the ministry has made it clear that they can obtain Hajj visas electronically by furnishing their pilgrims’ data, using the standard electronic system for the foreign pilgrims, the statement added.
