Minister Of Religion Reports To DPR: Saudi Arabia Has Not Confirmed The Hajj Issue

JAKARTA - Commission VIII of the House of Representatives held a working meeting with the Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to discuss preparations for the implementation of the 1442 Hijri/2021 pilgrimage.

Chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives, Yandri Susanto, assessed that the Indonesian government has been very maximal in preparing everything regarding this year's Hajj preparations.

"Actually, from a technical point of view, the Indonesian government, in this case the Ministry of Religion, has prepared well for the 2021 Hajj," said Yandri during a working meeting at the DPR building, Senayan, Monday, May 31.

Therefore, according to him, the Ministry of Religion must ensure whether Indonesia can send pilgrims to Saudi Arabia or not. Considering that Indonesia has not been included in the list of those who are allowed to come to Saudi Arabia.

"We need to pay attention to this, Saudi policy for us to anticipate in the future. Is the Saudi foundation based on handling COVID-19 or are there other considerations?," Yandri said.

Answering that, Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas revealed, until now the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not given certainty about the implementation of the Hajj pilgrimage in 2021.

"Once again, it has not been confirmed whether the implementation of the Hajj 1442 Hijri or 2021 AD will be carried out as in 2020, namely only for domestic pilgrims or will also invite pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia," said Yaqut.

Yaqut said, from the calculations of the Ministry of Religion, the certainty of the pilgrimage only left about 1 month more. Even so, he admitted that until now the Ministry of Religion continues to make preparations for the Hajj.

"Our calculation is that the remaining time until the closing date of the Saudi Arabian airport which falls on 4 Zulhijah 1442 H or July 4, 2021 is only about 1.5 months," he said.