982 Hajj Candidates From Bantul Are Already In The Holy Land, Ministry Of Religion Says 2 More Have Not Left Due To Illness

Illustration of Hajj in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Between)

DI YOGYAKARTA - The Bantul Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) revealed that two prospective hajj candidates from Bantul Regency have not yet been dispatched to the Holy Land.

Head of the Bantul Ministry of Religion, Ahmad Shidqi, said that Hajj candidates from Bantul have now been dispatched to Saudi Arabia through six flying groups (clusters).

"And those who are still left behind today and have not yet departed are two prospective pilgrims for health reasons. They come from the Piyungan sub-district," said Bantul, Special Region (DI) Yogyakarta, Monday, June 12, as reported by Antara.

He explained that of the two people, it was confirmed that one person could not be dispatched for health reasons that did not allow him to carry out a series of worships in the fifth Islamic Rukun in Saudi Arabia.

"Meanwhile, one is still in the incubation phase because yesterday it was exposed to a skin disease, which will take a week to heal, and if it is declared cured, it will be dispatched," he said.

He said all Bantul hajj candidates who had arrived in Saudi Arabia based on reports received from Hajj officers, were in good health and could carry out a series of pilgrimages.

"The pilgrims from Bantul consist of two waves, for the first wave they are currently in Medina for approximately nine days, and the next batch in wave two is already in Makkah waiting for the peak process of worship, currently all pilgrims are in good health," he said.

He said all Hajj candidates from Bantul had also been given an understanding when the Hajj was carried out, related to everything that happened, as well as the Hajj process because there were indeed several things that must be considered by prospective pilgrims while in Saudi Arabia.

"As related to culture in Saudi, then different weather and so on, from an early age we always remind them about weather differences that are more extreme and hotter than Indonesia so that they are prospective pilgrims who always maintain their health," he said.

He hopes that prospective pilgrims will always maintain their health by often drinking water and so on, always following directions from health workers from both groups and health workers from Saudi Arabia.

"Of course we also provide an understanding of cultural differences with the people of Saudi society, so that later the pilgrims will be easy to adapt there while carrying out a series of pilgrimages," he said.