Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar said his party coordinated with Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin to ensure the selection of more selective pilgrims, such as by ensuring that people participating in the Hajj were mentally healthy.
In a meeting with Commission VIII of the DPR, Nasaruddin said that his party pays attention to pilgrims who have special needs, including the elderly, people who are limited in language, and even congregations with mental problems.
The Minister of Religion was also surprised because a number of people with physical and mental health problems were still desperate to go for Hajj and instead endangered themselves, making it difficult for their families.
"Sorry if I call it mental retardation, it's also reckless to join the hajj and even jump from the room, yes, go down. I also don't know how people like that can qualify," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 12.
Such selection, he said, was to ensure that such people did not become a burden for their own families. Moreover, he said, the eastern culture of Indonesians is so strong that they take care of their sick family members for 1-3 months after the holy journey.
"When the family left it alone there. The cost is very expensive. Selling his house to take care of his parents who are lying in a Mecca hospital," he said.
The Minister of Religion said, regarding the age limit for going to Hajj, which is 90 years old, he considered that what needs to be considered is health, because many 90-year-olds are still active and strong.
"In Indonesia, there are people over 90 years old, even many, still strong in number. But there are people who have just been brought 60 years but use wheelchairs and so on. So it's very relatively a measure of health istitiah," he said.
He explained that he conveyed this to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia directly.
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