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View all search resultsHaj in a new era
Indonesia's historic haj services overhaul brings shorter wait times and better safety in the desert, even as old logistical headaches and corruption shadows persist.
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Silent devotion: Muslims perform the evening prayer on May 24 around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, at the Grand Mosque complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, ahead of the annual haj. Over 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived from outside the kingdom for the upcoming haj, according to a Saudi official, exceeding the number of international visitors last year despite the war in the Middle East. (AFP/Zain Jaafar)
S
ome 221,000 Indonesian pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for the haj under a punishing desert sun, joining more than 1.5 million others from around the world amid the backdrop of a regional Middle East war triggerred by a United States-Israeli attack on Iran.
As home to the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia sends what is likely the largest contingent of pilgrims every year. Among them this year are tens of thousands of elderly pilgrims and hundreds of people with disabilities or special needs, all expected to endure a 7-kilometer walk during the symbolic jumrah (stoning of the devil) ritual in Mina, which began on Wednesday.
To accommodate these vulnerable groups, the elderly-friendly protocol was reinforced this season. This included deploying specialized medical teams equipped with mobile cooling units to combat heat exhaustion, alongside designated safari wukuf services that allowed non-ambulatory or severely ill pilgrims to complete their core rituals via customized, air-conditioned ambulances.
The newly established Haj and Umrah Ministry has been focusing its attention on this procession, which marks the final days of this year’s pilgrimage running until today. To ensure pilgrim safety, the ministry has deployed 2,098 officers on the ground in Saudi Arabia.
Digital integration is a key to success in the government’s administration of the haj this season. The new ministry has scaled up the use of smart cards and localized tracking apps to monitor pilgrim movements through the grueling Mina bottlenecks, allowing field officers to pinpoint distressed or lost pilgrims in real time—a crucial upgrade given the extreme weather conditions.
So far, this year’s haj has been touted for major logistical and health service improvements following years of criticism. It is the first season fully managed by the new standalone ministry, following its separation from the Religious Affairs Ministry late last year under a revised haj law.
In stark contrast to last year’s hundreds of fatalities, this year has recorded far fewer deaths among Indonesian pilgrims, though a few illness-related fatalities have been reported.
