The 2021 Hajj Has Been Canceled, Indonesian Ulema Council Calls Indonesia-Saudi Arabia Diplomacy Still In Very Good Terms

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JAKARTA - Deputy Secretary-General of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for Foreign Relations and International Cooperation Habib Ali Hasan Bahar denied the bad news regarding the government's reason for canceling the 2021 hajj departures.

The estrangement of diplomatic relations between the Indonesian government and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is said to be the cause of the cancelation of the pilgrimage stampede.

According to Habib Ali, to this day Indonesia-Saudi Arabia relations are still very good.

"Our diplomacy is very warm, very good, especially with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", said Habib Ali, Friday, June 11.

In fact, said Habib Ali, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia, Sheikh Essam bin Abed Al-Thaqafi, also revealed the relationship when he visited the Central MUI Office, Jakarta, some time ago.

"Even the ambassador when he was at the MUI conveyed that Indonesia's diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia had been for decades", explained Habib Ali.

Habib Ali also revealed that the cancellation of the Hajj departure from Indonesia this year was not based on the issue of vaccine certification.

"There is nothing to do with the type of vaccine or the country from which the vaccine was obtained", he said.

He said, so far other countries have not received permission to send prospective pilgrims to the holy land.

"So Saudi Arabia is purely thinking about which one is the best, to make the pilgrimage really worship, don't let it become a problem", concluded Habib Ali.