Muslims condemn Saudi Arabia for biased decision to limit Hajj allegedly over the Covid-19 pandemic

Hajj is a fundamental tenet of Islam and one of the most central commandments of the Islamic faith.

According to the Islamic religion, it is required to perform the Hajj once in a lifetime for those who can afford the journey. Due to an annual rise in the number of those who apply to participate in the annual Hajj rituals in the Holy Mecca, Saudi Arabia has instituted a quota system for admitting pilgrims from foreign nations.

This limitation is supposedly based on a decision made by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 1988 according to which each country is allocated one individual for every 1,000 to partake in the Hajj.

Despite its initial steps to comply with the quota regulations, the Saudi regime eventually abandoned OIC’s standards in favour of preferential treatment or hostility toward some Islamic nations for purely political reasons.

When it came to admitting overseas pilgrims, countries that are in political conflict with the Saudi government face discrimination, with Syrian and Yemenis being denied the opportunity to perform Hajj at a bigger rate than Muslims in any other Islamic country. Meanwhile, all Saudi pilgrims aged 18 and above are invited to attend the Hajj. Last year, just a thousand local pilgrims were permitted to perform the Hajj; this year, the number has risen only to 60,000, most of them Saudi citizens. The Saudi government has chosen to perform the Hajj rites with severe limitations, even though many non-Saudi pilgrims have already received their Covid-19 vaccines.

Numerous nations were infuriated by Saudi Arabia’s biased and egregious decisions, particularly Yemen, which has been targeted barbarously by the Saudi-led coalition for years.

Yemeni Supreme Revolutionary Committee Chairman Mohammad Ali al-Houthi reacted to the Saudi prejudiced approach against the Yemeni pilgrims by saying: “We are ready to sign an understanding with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about organizing this year’s Hajj ritual to allow pilgrims from all nations to perform the Hajj. We are also willing to financially compensate the family of any pilgrim who died from contracting Covid-19. We are only concerned with the fact that no Muslim, regardless of its nationality, should be deprived of performing the Hajj.”

Furthermore, Yemen’s Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Hajj Affairs vehemently slammed the Al-Saud regime’s efforts to bar Yemeni Muslims from attending Hajj. “The Al-Saud regime’s decision is a calculated one in light of this Riyadh’s overt support for the US and Zionist agendas,” the ministry declared in a statement.

“Rather than obstructing Hajj, the Al-Saud regime should have established adequate arrangements for the participation of all Muslim pilgrims,” the Yemeni Ministry of Islamic Guidance added.