Vice President Considers Hajj Prohibition More Than Once A Good Idea, But Still Has To Be Debated

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin gave a statement after attending Haul Masyayikh, Graduation of Retired Students, and 28th Anniversary of Al-Anwar Islamic Boarding School in Bangkalan, Madura, East Java, Thursday (31/8/2023). (ANTARA/Indra Arief Pribadi)

BANGKALAN - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the idea of banning Hajj more than once was a good idea, but the discourse still had to be debated.

"So there is a termination (of Hajj more than once), I think that's something that must be debated. I think the idea is good to give opportunities to those who have not had a pilgrimage," said Vice President Ma'ruf after attending Haul Masyayikh, Graduation Retired Students, and 28th Anniversary of Al-Anwar Islamic Boarding Schools in Bangkalan, Madura, East Java, reported by ANTARA, Thursday, August 31.

Ma'ruf said the proposal to ban Hajj more than once could cut the hajj queue. That way, people who have hajj can carry out Umrah if they miss the Holy Land.

"I think it's good why give opportunities to those who haven't had Hajj, so let the pilgrims just go to Umrah," he said.

Ma'ruf said the proposal for a ban on Hajj more than once would be debated before any stipulation.

"I think this must be debated. There used to be once every 5 years, then there were once every 10 years, now there is more progress so that the main thing is that the Hajj is not allowed to have Hajj so that those who have not had this pilgrimage can," he said.

The discourse on banning Hajj more than once was put forward by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (PMK) Muhadjir Effendy. The proposal emerged to cut the queue for Hajj departure.

Muhadjir assessed that the obligation of Hajj for those who can afford it is only once, while the next opportunity needs to be given to people who have not performed the pilgrimage.

These efforts are expected to reduce the queue for Hajj departures so as to provide opportunities for people who have not had the pilgrimage before they age.

"This discourse needs to be discussed because the aging pilgrims have implications for health," said Muhadjir Effendy.

Based on data on the implementation of the 2023 Hajj, as many as 43.78 percent of pilgrims out of 22,900 Hajj participants are over 60 years old. Meanwhile, Indonesian pilgrims who died reached 774 people or 3.38 percent with the majority aged.

From this data, elderly Hajj participants have a 7.1 times greater risk of dying than non-elderly pilgrims.