Posted on 09/27/2009 2:56:09 AM PDT by nickcarraway
The global financial crisis has affected the registration of Muslims wishing to travel to Mecca, Saud Arabia, for the annual pilgrimage, the National Hajj Mission has confirmed.
According to the Hajj Mission of the Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata), at least 2,500 Muslims would have been allowed to visit the Arabian Gulf nation for the annual pilgrimage this year, but the allocated figure for Tanzania could not be reached due to economic downturn shocks.
Speaking to The Citizen over the phone from Zanzibar yesterday, the acting chairman of the Tanzania Hajj Mission, Sheikh Khalid Mohamed, travel agents are worried that they will not meet targets set for them for this year.
Sheikh Mohamed said many aspiring Tanzanian piligrims depend on relatives working abroad to send them money to fund their trips to Mecca, but the these benefactors have been hit hard by economic recession this year and can�t deliver.
He added that many travel agents have confirmed that registration was too slow and they fear they won�t meet even 50 per cent of their targets. "According to the calendar, we are supposed to travel for Hajj a month after Eid el Fitr," said Sheikh Mohamed.
He added: "Only three travel agencies have met 50 per cent of their targets; this means slots reserved for Tanzania would not be filled this year." However, Sheikh Mohamed supported the move by the authorities in Saud Arabia to issue new travel guidelines for Muslims going to perform this year's Hajj.
According to the guidelines, pilgrims aged 65 years and above, teenagers less than 12 years and pregnant women, will not be allowed to take part in this year's Hajj. No visa would be issued to these segments of would be pilgrims. Hajj.
Sheikh Mohamed said his office received the guidelines from the Saud Arabia embassy in Tanzania. They are aimed at checking the spread of swine flu in the Arabian Gulf nation.
"We have received the guidelines from the embassy and we have written to travel agents advising them of the same,"said Sheikh Mohamed.
Although the guidelines are meant to curb swine flu, Sheikh Mohamed said, the measures would badly affect some Muslims who had planned to make the trip to the holy city of Mecca.
Sheikh Mohamed said the guidelines are meant to protect thousands of pilgrims with weak immune systems from contracting swine flu.
Why don’t they just hijack some planes to get there?
You should write a Hajj on $5 a day pamphlet.
Deep discounts on the S.S. Patna. Book now!
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