DPR Asks Saudi Arabian Lobbying Minister For Discourse On Restrictions On Hajj Candidates For A Maximum Of 90 Years

Chairman of Commission VIII DPR Marwan Dasopang asked the Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar to lobby the Government of Saudi Arabia so as not to continue the discourse of limiting Hajj participants to a maximum age of 90 years.

Marwan said that so far there has been no official notification from the Government of Saudi Arabia regarding the provisions for limiting the age of the pilgrims.

"Actually, not in writing yet, just news. We have asked the Minister of Religion to hold a dialogue and lobby with the Saudi side that this age limit should not be applied," Marwan said during a press conference after a joint press conference with the Commission VIII DPR RI's Hajj Fee Working Committee to meet President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, January 7.

He explained that if the discourse was continued and the Government of Saudi Arabia set the policy, many Indonesian pilgrims would be threatened with not being able to carry out worship in the Holy Land.

The reason is that many Muslims in Indonesia are only able to register for Hajj when they are old.

"The character of our congregation is indeed old because registering is old, the waiting period is old, it's still not allowed, it hurts a lot," continued Marwan.

He hopes that the Government of Indonesia can convince the Government of Saudi Arabia so that the age factor should not be a reference for restrictions.

If it is a reference for health factors, Marwan said that Indonesia may still be able to accept it.

Apart from that, Marwan believes that the discourse on restrictions is just "pull news". "There is no correspondence yet," he said.

The DPR Commission VIII Hajj Fee Committee met with President Prabowo at the Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday, for more than two hours.

During the meeting, Panja reported a decrease in the cost of Hajj trips borne by pilgrims, as well as a decrease in the cost of organizing the hajj.

The work committee, at the same meeting, also revealed the problem of waiting for prospective hajj participants who have been around for too long in several regions.

"In South Sulawesi, there are districts that have been over 49 years of waiting period. However, the average is between 25'30 years. There are three districts in South Sulawesi that have reached 48 years. It is quite difficult to unravel this, if they wait for the waiting list, it's fast, yes maybe the deceased. He doesn't get there anymore. How to break it down, one is an additional quota," said Marwan.

He continued that the long waiting list affected the psychology of prospective hajj participants, considering the number reached 5 million people.

"There are already those who feel wary that they will not go for Hajj in an elderly (elderly, red) condition and are not healthy. In fact, (some) feel that they will no longer reach their age towards departure because of that we asked for willingness and asked the President to convince Saudi Arabia, we still get a quota, getting this quota will certainly make the congregation happy," said Marwan Dasopang.

Marwan said President Prabowo seemed serious about unraveling the issue of the waiting period.

Marwan said the President had also scheduled a visit to Saudi Arabia at the end of January 2025, one of which was expected to lobby Saudi Arabia so that Indonesia would get an additional hajj quota.

"God willing, he (the President) explained that at the end of January he would travel, and we hope that he will reach Saudi Arabia and meet the King there who determines whether the quota can be increased or not," said the Chairman of Commission VIII DPR.