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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Haj quota may be increased this year

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By Fahad Al Ghadani — MUSCAT: Jan 16 - The Haj pilgrims’ quota is likely to be increased this year as Saudi Arabia has completed work on enhancing the capacity of Mecca’s Grand Mosque to receive more pilgrims in the forthcoming season. “We expect the quota of pilgrims from the Sultanate to be increased this year as the expansion work at Mecca’s Grand Mosque is complete,” an official source at Oman’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs told the Observer. The source, however, said the ministry has so far not received any official statement from the Saudi authorities.


According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Minister of Haj and Umrah Mohammed bin Saleh Benten confirmed the decision to raise the capacity and number of pilgrims in the upcoming season had been approved. The source said the pilgrim quota had gone down some years ago from 14,000 to 11,000 due to expansion work in Mecca. “We expect the number to go up 14,000 again,” he said. The Saudi government has reduced the number of local pilgrims by 50 per cent and foreign pilgrims by 20 per cent in the last four years due to expansion work. Before the Saudi government decided to reduce the number of pilgrims in 2007, more than 2.4 million pilgrims — 1.7 million foreign and 746,511 domestic — performed Haj.


Last year, 1,86 million pilgrims — 1,325,372 foreign and 537,537 domestic — performed Haj, the lowest number recorded in the last 10 years, according to Saudi Gazette. Last year, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in Oman introduced the Haj e-registration system for those wish to perform Haj this year. The new system aims to curb fake operators and streamline the distribution of Haj cards. Applicants can register at the ministry’s website, www.hajj.com by entering their identification numbers and phone numbers manually or scanning their ID cards.


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