Cancel Hajj, Wait Until 2021 Or You Can Get Money

JAKARTA - The Minister of Religion (Menag) Fachrul Razi said that prospective pilgrims who have paid the Hajj Pilgrimage Implementation Fee (Bipih) will depart in 2021. This is following the cancellation of Hajj departures in 2020.

"Regular and special pilgrims who have paid for the pilgrimage (Bipih) will become pilgrims for Hajj 1442 Hijriah or 2021 AD," said Fachrul in a press conference through the Ministry of Religious Affairs YouTube, Tuesday, June 2.

According to him, the money that has been paid by the prospective pilgrims will be managed by the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH). So, prospective pilgrims who choose to remain awaiting the government's decision will be given data on their departure at least one month before leaving for Saudi Arabia to worship.

"The value of the benefits will be given by BPKH to pilgrims no later than 30 days before the departure of the first batch of Hajj 1442 Hijriah or in 2021," said Fachrul.

However, prospective pilgrims who have paid and decided not to leave due to this decision, said Fachrul, can ask for a full refund. Later, the return is given directly to that person without going through other parties.

"The utilization value is returned to the individual based on the amount of Bipih he pays," said Fachrul.

Refunds could not be represented, he said, because the payments for Hajj departures were different. Based on the data, the nominal is in the range of millions to tens of millions of rupees per person.

Fachrul gave an example of the difference in payment for each person. For the repayment of the Bipih, the minimum is around Rp. 6 million, that is, for congregations in Aceh with an initial money of Rp. 25 million. Meanwhile, the highest was around Rp. 16 million for those departing from Makassar.

"I underline the value of the benefits given back to them based on the amount of Bipih that he paid," concluded Fachrul.

The government, through the Minister of Religion, stated that it would not send the haj pilgrims in 2020 or 1441 Hijriah. This decision was taken based on several considerations related to the COVID-19 period.

One of the considerations for this decision is the question of sufficient time, which will certainly take longer. Because, if they still choose to dispatch prospective pilgrims for the pilgrimage, they must go through a long quarantine period.

Pilgrims must be quarantined for two weeks at home before leaving for Saudi Arabia. Then, return to quarantine upon arrival and return to their homeland.

The next consideration was for the parties to maintain physical distance during worship. This is also a concern because pilgrims must implement health protocols to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

Maintaining physical distance must also be done during the journey to Saudi Arabia, during the prayer process, until arriving back home.