Certainty of Hajj 2020 departure, retreats in early June

Last updated on May 7th, 2021 at 07:15 am

The government says the decision on organizing the 2020 pilgrimage during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic will be made June 1. Deadlines related to the certainty of Hajj 2020 are retreating from the original May 20.

This was decided after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo communicated with the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

“I report to Mr. President, Mr. President said that he had finished communicating with King Salman. So he suggested what if he resigned until early June who knows of developments,” said Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi in the video conference after a limited meeting with President Jokowi, Tuesday, May 19.

According to him, until now there is still no certainty from Saudi Arabia about the departure of the pilgrimage to 2020. Fachrul hopes that Saudi Arabia will immediately provide certainty about the implementation of the pilgrimage during the corona pandemic.

“I report to Mr. President, Mr. President said that he had finished communicating with King Salman. So he suggested what if he resigned until early June who knows of developments,” said Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi

Even so, Fachrul stressed that the government could no longer wait long. The reason, he said, the first contingent is scheduled to depart on June 26.

Fachrul Razi had previously opened up the possibility not to depart Indonesian pilgrims if there was no news from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until May 20.

The fate of organizing the pilgrimage this year is a question mark after the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Moreover, at the end of February, Saudi stopped their Umrah worship services because of the corona.

According to Fachrul, the government still adheres to the three initial scenarios. First, the government will dispatch all pilgrims according to the quota if the Saudis hold Hajj as usual.

Second, the government limits the number of pilgrims or dispatches some pilgrims if the Saudis implement social distancing in the Hajj this time. The third option is for the government to prepare a scenario if this year’s pilgrimage is canceled because of the corona.

If this year’s pilgrimage is not held, the government will open an option for pilgrims to pay the settlement fee. But the congregation certainly gets priority hajj hail in 2021.

This year, Indonesia gets a hajj quota of 221 thousand people. The number consists of 203,320 regular hajj quota and 17,680 special hajj quota.