Independent Umrah Controversy: Worship Affairs Should Be Made Easier, Not Difficult

The Indonesian government prohibits Umrah travel independently, even though Saudi Arabia allows Umrah with tourist visas. (Pixabay)

The announcement of the Saudi Arabian government that allows Umrah with tourist visas is positively welcomed by the Indonesian people. Unfortunately, this joy did not last long because the Ministry of Religion prohibited the departure of independent Umrah.

Recently, the Saudi Arabian government allowed Umrah pilgrims to worship on tourist visas. As reported by Gulf, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia released rules regarding Umrah. Congregants can use visit visas, tourism, and labor.

The Indonesian people certainly welcomed this news, because it was considered to provide many benefits for the congregation. However, recently the Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas announced that he had banned Umrahbackpackers on the grounds of protecting Muslims who wanted to carry out Umrah.

He explained that Umrah travel is different from other tourist trips, because it involves worship rules that must be obeyed.

"This is if we go abroad we can do it ourselves. Where? To Europe, Japan, America, wherever we can do it ourselves, because there are no rules for traveling, but Umrah is different. There are rules of worship that must be met," said Yaqut, quoted by Antara.

Quoted by a number of references, backpackers are tourists or travelers who carry out out outages using back bags. Parabackpackers are synonymous with cheap and efficient travel.

Independent Umrah or more popularly known as umrahbackpacker has actually been carried out in recent years, before the Saudi Arabian government issued a statement about allowing Umrah on a tourist visa.

It's just that, at that time the Umrahbackpacker was done 'hiddenly'. But over time, there are more and more Umrah pilgrims who do Umrah independently. Information related to this self-employment is also scattered everywhere.

There are a number of reasons that make Umrah backpacker the choice of some people. Among them are the cost of independent Umrah which is much cheaper than through travel and the freedom of congregation to worship.

For this reason, when the Saudi Arabian government issued a policy to allow Umrah with tourist visas, many people welcomed it.

But the Indonesian government insists the Umrah backpacker is prohibited. Minister of Religion Yaqut said the ban on backpacker Umrah is expected to minimize risks and ensure the safety and comfort of Muslims who carry out Umrah pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

There are many things that the government considers why it should be avoided by the backpacker Umrah. So there are Umrah travel agencies that will be ready to help people to be able to carry out Umrah well," Yaqut explained.

The Umrah pilgrimage for the Indonesian people itself is regulated in Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah. The law states that only two people can carry out the Umrah departure process, namely the government and the private sector.

The pros and cons of self-employment for Indonesian pilgrims were commented on by an observer of international relations at the Islamic University of Indonesia, Hadza Min Fadhli Robby, said that Umrahbackpacker justru can make Umrah worship more accessible to the middle and lower middle class because the price is more affordable.

Fadhli said, the government cannot prohibit independent Umrah, especially if the Umrah pilgrims are worthy and able to carry out Umrah independently.

The Indonesian government may need to make regulations to ensure that Saudi visa flexibility and the backpacker's Umrah trend are not misused by irresponsible parties, Fadhli said.

Meanwhile, Hajj observer UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Dadi Darmadi, highlighted the monopoly practice by major travel agencies. Dadi said the government's ban on independent Umrah did not match the needs and abilities of the lower middle class who wanted to perform Umrah.

For this reason, he hopes that the government can invite experts to discuss alternative steps if independent Umrah is prohibited. The goal is that Umrah worship can be accessed by all people.

"Because of course we understand that the issue of security, comfort, and others is important. But also many people have traveled to various countries to travel so far, it can be done quite safely. The question is why can't Umrah? " he said.

Despite the good intentions of the government to protect Indonesian Umrah pilgrims, the fact is that there are several problematic Hajj and Umrah trips that cause losses of tens of billions and even up to trillions of Rupiah.

Some of the problematic Umrah travel services are First Travel and Lumampah Balad Solution (SBL) which shocked the public several years ago.

In 2017, around 63 thousand Umrah pilgrims failed to depart from First Travel. Armed with the lure of cheap Umrah for IDR 14 million, the First Travel service sold well, because the market price at that time was around IDR 20 million. Reportedly, the total loss of victims from this case reached IDR 1 trillion.

The owner, who is a married couple Andika Surachman and Anniesa Hasibuan, was sentenced to 20 and 18 years in prison, respectively. Both were also asked to pay a fine of Rp. 10 billion.

Meanwhile, the SBL case occurred in 2019, when the owner, Aom Juang Wibowo managed to deceive tens of thousands of Umrah pilgrims. Aom reportedly pocketed Rp900 billion from prospective pilgrims and took Rp300 billion from funds raised for personal gain.

Therefore, when the Saudi Arabian government finally opens an independent path for Umrah pilgrims, the government should facilitate by opening all options for organizers, including independent departures.

Hidayat Nur Wahid, Deputy Chairperson of the MPR believes that if the Umrah is independent, it will not have a negative impact on the registration of Umrah departures through the travel bureau, because they already have their own niche with various service features.

The independent Umrah policy can even correct and remove problematic and even fraudulent Umrah travel agencies, which promise cheap departures, but apparently do not carry out campaigned promises, causing many problems and losses to Umrah pilgrims.