Hajj 2023: more Omanis to qualify for free pilgrimage

Recipients of the government grant welcome the expansion

Pilgrims circumambulate around Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Makkah at Hajj last year. EPA

Oman’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs will pay for 306,000 Omanis to perform Hajj this year.

Officials said the number has increased by 12 per cent from last year.

Every year, the ministry pays for Omanis who receive social security to perform Hajj but this year the number has increased to include more “underprivileged Omanis”.

Hajj, the Arabic word for pilgrimage, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for every Muslim who is able. Pilgrims are required to perform the rituals taught by the Prophet Mohammed, to remind them they are all equal before God.

Helping those in need

The social security category covers Omanis who have no stable income and/or provider. These include orphans, widows, divorcees, unmarried females, families of prisoners, the disabled, abandoned females and senior citizens.

“There is a bigger number of applications of Omanis in the social security category this year, so we thought we needed to send out more people than last year,” a spokesman of the Endowments Office told The National.

“More people retire every year and the number of people in social security obviously increases.”

Recipients of the government grant welcomed the news, as Hajj can be expensive.

Saif Al Kharoosi, 67, a retired civil servant, told The National: “I am very grateful to get selected. My pension is not enough to pay for the ever-increasing amount of money needed to go to Hajj. I am happy to be among the lucky ones."

The cheapest Hajj package costs about 1,600 rials ($4,000) per person and the VIP package as much as 5,000 rials.

“I am just a pensioner who gets just a little over 600 rials ($1,500) a month and that is not enough," retired security guard Salim Al Jawhari, 71, told The National after qualifying for the free package.

"After I deduct my daily family costs, it leaves me with no savings."

Benefitting young and old

It is not only retirees but also younger citizens who are keen to receive the Hajj grant, as some cannot afford the pricy pilgrimage.

“I am 46 and not yet retired but would like the Ministry of Endowments to consider us as well, since we don’t have enough savings with so many children to look after,” Hilal Al Ghafri, a clerical employee in a construction company in Muscat, told The National.

Rashad Al Jufaili, 42, a fisherman in Muscat, said: "I know the Endowments Ministry has always put focus on retirees but I think a fair percentage of younger people in their 40s must be considered as well to even it out.”

Saudi's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announces three packages for pilgrims each year. It opened registration for Hajj 2023 in January for those living in the kingdom, with prices from 3,984 riyals.