Pilgrims determined to perform the rite of Hajj

Manama

The “crane falling” incident in Mecca, which killed over a hundred pilgrims on Friday did not affect the Bahraini pilgrims’ determination to travel to the holy lands, Hajj services offices confirmed.

While speaking to DT News yesterday, several owners of Umrah and pilgrimage offices in the country said Bahrain’s pilgrims are very determined to perform the rite of Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, despite the sad news.

Manager of Al Mortadha and Al Jannusani Pilgrimage Services in Aali, Sayed Mahmood said, “All registered pilgrims with our office are insisting on going to Mecca and perform the holy rites. To my knowledge, this is the general feedback from all pilgrims of Bahrain. In fact, 47 pilgrims from our office travelled to Saudi Arabia by bus today and the remaining 45 will go by air on September 17.”

“The mishap shocked the world and we are praying for those who were killed and for speed recovery of the injured pilgrims. Yet, none of pilgrims who are travelling with our office showed any sign of hesitation in regards to travelling to Mecca. Some of them waited their entire life for such an opportunity,” Sayed Mahmood added.

 Expats as well

Speaking on similar lines, Manager of Al Sahaba Hajj and Umrah Services Hamza Mohiddeen told DT News that expats are very determined on visiting the holy land, confirming that “no one backed out or showed any intention to.”

“It’s heartbreaking to see this many pilgrims die inside the Holy Grand Mosque in Mecca. But we’re proceeding with our procedures according to plan and no changes have been made.” Mohiddeen informed DT News an hour before the office’s bus moved towards King Fahd Causeway.

Unlike other offices, Al Sahaba and five similar centres provide their services only to residents, as assigned by the Supreme Bahrain Hajj Committee.

Quotas reduction caused increase of prices

Following the recent hike of Hajj services’ fees, Deputy Manager of Al Asala Hajj and Umrah Services Salah Al Mahmeed said that the raise in pilgrimage fees came as a result of the reduction of quotas allocated for local offices and the increasing demand in the market every year.

“The ongoing maintenance works that commenced three years ago at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, forced Saudi Hajj authorities to reduce quotas allocated for each country. Bahrain’s quota was reduced to 3700 this year. Each of the approved 61 offices in the Kingdom receives a quota of 60-70 pilgrims,” Al Mahmeed explained.

Merging offices to defy price increase

Sayed Mahmood said that several offices in Bahrain have introduced a new idea this year, in order to reduce the prices of the soaring fees for their customers. He said that several offices merged their services, resulting in reducing expenses and benefiting pilgrims.

He said, “when two offices are merged, they bear fewer expenses, such as petrol consumption, vehicles maintenance and prices of air-flights tickets’ packages.”

“This is an innovative idea that was adopted by many pilgrimage service providers in Bahrain and was widely welcomed by pilgrims. Prices were reduced by around BD300 for air trips and BD400 for bus trips,” he added.