Women will be able to register for this year's Hajj without a male guardian
Three packages have been approved for this year's pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said applicants would be able to register online for Hajj, including women without a mahram (male guardian). This year's Hajj begins in mid-July.
This new increase in women's freedoms announced by Saudi Arabia is a small step towards dismantling the country's male guardianship system. Some of the most significant legal changes previously adopted by the Council of Ministers include the ability for women to obtain a passport without the approval of a male relative, driving since 2018, registering the births of their children and 2019 protections against employment discrimination.
Registration for this year's Hajj opened at 1pm on Sunday 13 June after the government said it would limit this year's cohort to citizens and residents of the Kingdom. Registration is available until 10pm on June 23. There is no priority for early applicants. Those wishing to undertake the pilgrimage will have to apply online.
Applications will go through five stages. First, health information and personal data based on the applicant's official documents are reviewed and recognised. Next, the system verifies the applicant's eligibility for Hajj, based on data provided by the National Information Centre.
Once an application is accepted, the applicant will be given a registration number for further enquiries. After ensuring the COVID-19 status of the applicant (fully immune, immune with first dose or immune after recovery), a text message is sent with payment details.
The ministry said that registering for Hajj did not mean that a final Hajj permit had been granted, as the ministry has the right to reject an application at any time in case it is determined that rules are being violated.
Before an application for a Hajj permit can be submitted, all applicants must acknowledge that they have not performed Hajj in the last five years, that they do not suffer from any chronic illness and that they are not infected with COVID-19. Attendees must also acknowledge that they have not been admitted to a hospital due to chronic illness or for dialysis treatment in the last six months.
No foreign pilgrims will be allowed to perform Hajj this year. Saudi Arabia has restricted the annual pilgrimage to Saudi citizens and residents, and has set a maximum of 60,000 pilgrims because of the coronavirus pandemic, as this event could promote the spread of the virus and thus worsen the health situation.
The decision was based "on the Kingdom's continued keenness to allow guests and visitors to the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque to perform the rituals of Hajj and Umrah," the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said. "The Kingdom gives priority to the health and safety of the people."
The "sorting" phase of the Hajj application process begins on June 25, according to an official tweet from the ministry, which also said applicants must pay for their package within three hours of selection to avoid cancellation. Priority will be given to registered applicants who have never performed Hajj, it added.
The costs of the three approved packages are SR16,560.50 (EUR 3,643), SR14,381.95 (EUR 3,164) and SR12,113.95 (EUR 2,665). VAT will be added to the price of each package. According to the website of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, they will go by bus to the holy sites and there will be a maximum of 20 pilgrims per vehicle.
They will be provided with three meals a day in Mina and two meals (breakfast and lunch) in Arafat. Dinner will be provided in Muzdalifah. Other food and beverage services will be available, but pilgrims will not be allowed to bring food from outside Makkah.
The Hajj, an obligation to perform at least once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, is an important source of revenue for the Saudi government. Before the pandemic imposed social alienation worldwide, some 2.5 million pilgrims used to visit Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina for the week-long Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage, which together earned the kingdom about $12 billion a year, according to official figures. Only about 10,000 Muslims took part in the Hajj in July last year.
The decision to limit attendance at the Hajj has been applauded by its neighbours, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of the Islamic World. UAE Minister Khalifa Shaheen al-Marar said his country "welcomes the Kingdom's decision and supports all measures taken by the Kingdom as part of its efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, contain its spread and ensure the safety of pilgrims and the community".