Confesses To The Director General Of Hajj At The Ministry Of Religion Who Has Never Performed Hajj: Even Though He Often Goes Back And Forth Between Saudi Arabia

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion's (Kemenag) Ministry of Religion's Director General (Dirjen) Hilman Latief admitted that he was one of the 5.2 million Indonesian Hajj pilgrims who were still waiting for departure to the Holy Land.

According to him, a strategic position in the government cannot guarantee that it will get priority to carry out the pilgrimage. In fact, he who now leads the Directorate of Hajj must be put on a waiting list like other people.

"I haven't had the hajj yet and I'm still on the waiting list," he said when met in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 27.

Hilman added, this situation was also experienced by his wife who did register for Hajj at the same time. He also emphasized that he could not confirm when the departure time would arrive. The reason is, in a pandemic the quota of pilgrims going to the Holy Land is becoming increasingly limited.

"My wife and I can only be patient and don't know when we can leave," he said.

Another thing that is contradictory is that Hilman is a government official who often leads the Indonesian delegation to lobby the Saudi Arabian government regarding the implementation of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. In fact, he often travels to the country to carry out missions for the interests of the Indonesian congregation.

"I used to go back and forth to Saudi (to work) but I don't know yet (I) can perform Hajj or not, because my intention to become Director General is to serve," he said.

For information, the initial quota for Indonesian pilgrims is 220,000 per year. However, in the current pandemic situation, the local authorities have decided to reduce the number of Indonesian pilgrims to around 100,000 people. The waiting time for Hajj departure is estimated at 44 years at the current calculation.