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Second haj cancelation devastates Indonesian pilgrims
For the second consecutive year, hundreds of thousands of Indonesian would-be pilgrims will have to put their haj plans on hold after the government cancels the 2021 haj due to COVID-19 concerns.
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A handout picture provided by the Saudi Ministry of Media on Aug. 2, 2020 shows Muslim pilgrims walking around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the center of the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, while mask-clad and along specific preordained rings as measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on the final day of the annual haj. In 2020, only some 10,000 Muslims took part after millions of international pilgrims were barred because of the pandemic. (AFP/- / Saudi Ministry of Media)
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or almost eight years, Yeti Farida, 46, has waited in the hope of one day traveling from her home in Cisurupan village in Garut, West Java, on the haj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, a pilgrimage that Muslims who are fit and able are obliged to make once in their lives.
She was all set to go last year until the coronavirus pandemic prompted the Religious Affairs Ministry to effectively cancel the haj, forcing her to wait another year, only to see her hopes dashed again by another haj cancelation this year.
“I was excited to be going at first. Then my haj departure got canceled and I was left disappointed,” said Yeti, the owner of a car spare parts shop. “Now I just feel dispirited [by the recent cancelation].”
For the second consecutive year, hundreds of thousands of Indonesian would-be pilgrims will have to put their haj plans on hold after the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation decided on Thursday to cancel the 2021 haj due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read also: Indonesia cancels haj trips this year
Henny Marina, a 48-year-old pediatrician in Bandung, West Java, and her husband are among would-be pilgrims who have had their lifelong dreams interrupted. So is private company employee Ahmad Tahmid, 49, -- who has to wait another year with his wife after years of saving money for the haj while raising three children.
“I’m sure every pilgrim feels let down by this cancelation, including myself, but at the end of the day we have to be realistic in seeing the situation,” Ahmad told The Jakarta Post.
