Jambi Waiting For The Decision Of The Hajj Quota Center 2022

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAMBI - The Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) of Jambi Province is still waiting for the 2022 quota for Hajj pilgrims for that area from the Ministry of Religion.

"We are still waiting for a decision on quotas and also technical instructions from the central government regarding the departure of the hajj later," said Muhammad Bafadhal, a policy analyst for the young expert in Hajj and Umrah at the Jambi Provincial Ministry of Religion, Muhammad Bafadhal, in Jambi, as reported by Antara, Thursday, April 14.

Muhammad Bafadhal explained that the Saudi Arabian government in the 2022 hajj season has announced the opening of the hajj pilgrimage and the majority are for foreign nationals.

The Saudi Arabian government has opened a hajj quota of one million pilgrims for 2022. However, the quota for pilgrims for each country has not been determined.

In addition, because it is still during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a rule that states that pilgrims aged 65 years and over are not allowed to perform the pilgrimage.

"Currently, the status is still a COVID-19 pandemic, then booster vaccination is also mandatory," said Muhammad Bafadhal.

Thus, pilgrims aged 65 years must postpone their departure to perform the pilgrimage until the regulation is revoked by the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the number of pilgrims in Jambi Province aged 65 years and over who have paid off the hajj fees in 2020 is 1,257 people.

This number is out of 2,821 pilgrims from Jambi Province in 2020 who have paid off the hajj fees. Thus, there are 1,564 pilgrims aged 65 years and under who will later depart for the pilgrimage.

"There are 44.56 percent of prospective pilgrims aged 65 years and over, and pilgrims who are prioritized to go for the pilgrimage, namely the 2020 hajj pilgrims," said Muhammad Bafadhal.