No Hajj Departure This Year, Banyumas Ministry Of Religion: Maybe Humanly Disappointed, But We Must Be Sincere

Head of Banyumas Regency Ministry of Religion Office, Central Java, Akhsin Aedi. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Office of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) Banyumas Regency, Central Java, asked prospective pilgrims from the region to remain steadfast in responding to the government's decision not to dispatch pilgrims in 2021 due to considerations of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The cancellation of the departure of prospective pilgrims is based on KMA (Minister of Religion Decree) Number 660 of 2021," said Head of the Banyumas Regency Ministry of Religion, Akshin Aedi, in Purwokerto, Banyumas, as reported by Antara, Wednesday, June 9.

Therefore, he said, his party on Wednesday, June 9 socialized the decision online, by inviting various Islamic organizations, majelis taklim for the guidance of the pilgrimage, representatives of prospective pilgrims, and other parties.

According to him, this was done because in Banyumas Regency there are 1,146 prospective pilgrims who are actually ready to go to the Holy Land in the Hajj season in 2021 or 1442 Hijri.

Related to this, Akhsin asked prospective pilgrims who were canceled to depart in 2021 to remain steadfast, namely to accept the provisions of Allah SWT even though as humans have tried to go through a fairly long process.

In addition, he said, prospective pilgrims who canceled their departure were also asked to be sincere and maintain their health and study the science of Hajj rituals in order to anticipate the possibility of the departure of the pilgrimage in 2021.

"Because indeed, basically if we return it is that Hajj is indeed a call from Allah SWT, 'labaik allahummalabaik' (I have come to fulfill Your call, O Allah). It means, if we are a believer, even though various processes have been passed, we will end up "He returns to fear Allah that Hajj is Allah's call, so maybe this year there is a lesson that Allah has not summoned pilgrims from Indonesia," he said.

He acknowledged that humanly, the cancellation of the departure made some prospective pilgrims disappointed.

"Although we may be humanly disappointed, but if we are believers (will argue) that Allah has not called us, we will sincerely accept Allah's provisions," he emphasized.

Furthermore, Akshin said that the hajj problem actually involves various elements of ministries and state institutions such as the Ministry of Religion, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Police, and so on.

However, he said, the public knew that the Ministry of Religion was in charge of the pilgrimage.

"The government has actually gone through a long process to prepare and prepare for the departure of prospective hajj pilgrims in 2021 if Saudi Arabia opens access to prospective pilgrims from Indonesia," he said.

Because the implementation of the hajj pilgrimage is getting closer, he said, the government and the Indonesian House of Representatives have agreed to cancel the departure of prospective hajj pilgrims in 2021.

According to him, this decision was taken by the government to maintain the health of Muslims who want to perform the pilgrimage in line with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In this case, he said, the government wants to maintain the health of the congregation and society in general.

Asked about the waiting list for prospective hajj pilgrims in Banyumas Regency, Akhsin said it actually reached 28 years, but because in 2020 and 2021 there was a cancellation of the departure of prospective Hajj pilgrims, the waiting list was pushed back to around 29-30 years.

"According to the government's promise, prospective hajj pilgrims who are canceled in 2020 and 2021 will be prioritized to leave in 2022 if there is indeed a pilgrimage," Akshin Aedi said.