12 November 2009
This year's Hajj pilgrimage for Muslims all over the world begins on November 24th, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The performance of the Hajj, as a spiritual exercise, is one of the five major pillars of the Islam religion. The Hajj is supposed to be performed in a somber, solemn, and revered atmosphere. In Ghana, however, over the past couple of years, the Hajj pilgrimage was made synonymous with hardship and adversity.
The Hajj was a period where potential pilgrims were made to sleep in open spaces exposed to the vagaries of the weather, while waiting for their flight, which never came. There were also times when the Ghana government had to ask for the extension of deadlines by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to our own inefficiencies in organising a successful Hajj.
In fact, for a pilgrimage that exacts pilgrims' physical and spiritual endurance, it was a crying shame that we allowed the pilgrims to go through that kind of suffering and anguish.
The organisation of the Hajj has come a long way in Ghana, and the cry of the Muslim population is that it is about time that the act of organising the Hajj should have been perfected. It is in the light of this that The Chronicle applauds the efforts of the current Hajj Board, and the initiatives they have introduced towards a successful hajj organization.
The construction of a Hajj Village, that consists of air conditioned tents, places of convenience, a clinic and canteen among other facilities, is a step in the right direction for the Ghanaian Muslim pilgrim. We, however, wish to caution that the edifice should be well maintained, to serve its purpose for a long time to come.
The fact that the Hajj Committee secured over 90% of the pilgrims' visas about a week before departure, is also good news. Also, the idea to airlift pilgrims from the Northern regions to Accra, before they embark on the pilgrimage is phenomenal.
The announcement of the government's financial support for some 400 poor Muslim pilgrims to embark on the pilgrimage, is also worthy of commendation. The first group of 265 Muslim pilgrims left Accra on Tuesday for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform this year's pilgrimmage. The second and third batches should have departed yesterday, with the last batch of Ghanaian pilgrims leaving on November 18th.
It is our hope and prayer that the innovations put in place will lead to a successful organisation of the Hajj. If the National Hajj Committee is able to pull through with the organisation of this year's hajj with minimal hiccups, the nation should endeavour to maintain and improve on the set standard for the coming years. Ghana, in the late 1970's, blazed the trail of successful hajj organisations, where Muslim pilgrims were made to pay highly subsidised fares and given spending money to boot, and they also had the honour and privilege of being ferried to Mecca in the Presidential jet. We should, as a nation, not depart from the good programmes that we craft for ourselves on the altar of political expediency.
The Chronicle would want to advise that the government's package for poor Muslim pilgrims to embark on the Hajj, should be well streamlined and made transparent, otherwise it would be the undoing of an otherwise good program for the organisation of future hajjs.
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