In keeping with the royal tradition, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman will host several thousand pilgrims from 70 different countries to perform Haj and Umrah.
Haj, pilgrimage to Makkah, is an important pillar of Islam. Over two million Muslims from all over the world perform Haj every year and a quota system is applied to allow Muslims from different parts of the world to come to the Kingdom for the annual pilgrimage.
Millions others fail to do so due to different reasons, mainly because older people are given preference over the younger Muslims and they are given the chance to perform Haj. Due to this and various other reasons, millions of Muslims die without performing this ritual.
Haj is a must for every physically, mentally and economically capable Muslim. Naturally, Saudi Arabia can’t accommodate more than two or three million pilgrims because this involves lots of preparations and logistics. As such, performing Haj remains an unfulfilled wish of millions.
Nevertheless, the Saudi leadership came out with this novel idea to invite several thousand over three years to help them realize their dream of performing Haj or Umrah. This arrangement is not only a symbol of Islamic international relations, but also a well-studied approach to unify the Muslim nation, a strategy initiated by King Salman since his coming to power over a year ago.
However, those eligible for the invitation should meet certain requirements. The invitees include those who have never performed Haj before and some who have embraced Islam. Others should be well-known figures like member of parliaments, deans of universities, trade union presidents and newsmen. The idea behind this is that these figures are influential players and decision makers in their own countries, and are in a position to shape public opinion and help give true picture of Islam to others.
This program to invite unofficial popular figures is in line with another approach by the Saudi leadership to unify Muslim ranks in the face of the many regional and international challenges.
The Ministry for Islamic Affairs has trained a big team to receive these visitors and look after their welfare.
The ministry has also organized a media campaign, involving leaflets and publications, in addition to an awareness program.
Although, these activities are recommendable, but we hope that the ministry would make maximum use of the technological advancement to convey to the whole world the true image of Islam and the message that King Salman wants to tell: Islam is the religion of morals, peaceful coexistence, tolerance and fraternity and not a religion of terrorism and bloodshed.
Haj, pilgrimage to Makkah, is an important pillar of Islam. Over two million Muslims from all over the world perform Haj every year and a quota system is applied to allow Muslims from different parts of the world to come to the Kingdom for the annual pilgrimage.
Millions others fail to do so due to different reasons, mainly because older people are given preference over the younger Muslims and they are given the chance to perform Haj. Due to this and various other reasons, millions of Muslims die without performing this ritual.
Haj is a must for every physically, mentally and economically capable Muslim. Naturally, Saudi Arabia can’t accommodate more than two or three million pilgrims because this involves lots of preparations and logistics. As such, performing Haj remains an unfulfilled wish of millions.
Nevertheless, the Saudi leadership came out with this novel idea to invite several thousand over three years to help them realize their dream of performing Haj or Umrah. This arrangement is not only a symbol of Islamic international relations, but also a well-studied approach to unify the Muslim nation, a strategy initiated by King Salman since his coming to power over a year ago.
However, those eligible for the invitation should meet certain requirements. The invitees include those who have never performed Haj before and some who have embraced Islam. Others should be well-known figures like member of parliaments, deans of universities, trade union presidents and newsmen. The idea behind this is that these figures are influential players and decision makers in their own countries, and are in a position to shape public opinion and help give true picture of Islam to others.
This program to invite unofficial popular figures is in line with another approach by the Saudi leadership to unify Muslim ranks in the face of the many regional and international challenges.
The Ministry for Islamic Affairs has trained a big team to receive these visitors and look after their welfare.
The ministry has also organized a media campaign, involving leaflets and publications, in addition to an awareness program.
Although, these activities are recommendable, but we hope that the ministry would make maximum use of the technological advancement to convey to the whole world the true image of Islam and the message that King Salman wants to tell: Islam is the religion of morals, peaceful coexistence, tolerance and fraternity and not a religion of terrorism and bloodshed.
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