Radio Islam News | 21 Dhul Qa’dah 1437/25 August 2016

Prince Khalid: ‘Serving Pilgrims is Source of Pride for Us All’

Jeddah-Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah, advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and chairman of the Central Haj Committee, stressed the importance of working hard to make this year’s Haj distinctive and well-organized.

Prince Khaled called for preparing a comprehensive study for the transportation of pilgrims by the region’s development body. The plan, according to the prince, aims at developing the system of transporting the pilgrims and benefiting from modern technology in Makkah and holy sites.

At the Central Hajj Committee meeting, Monday, in Jeddah, Prince Khaled said that Saudi Arabia, along with its leadership, government and people, is keen to provide highest level of service to the pilgrims on the basis of religious and Islamic duty.

He added: “Hajj season is the most important event for us as it has the patronage of the Saudi leadership and government.”

He also called for sincere collective hard work to serve pilgrims. “All should have a team work spirit in order to come out with a successful Haj season,” he said.

The prince noted that the holy capital depends mainly on transportation since it is in the center of the region; thus, transportation management pays great attention for its plans, confirming the importance of providing high quality transportation vehicles.

The meeting also tackled the arrangements for the project of localizing the jobs of drivers, technicians and employees who work in transporting pilgrims, in addition to developing the process of their transportation and ways of addressing the negative aspects of participation of small vehicles to transport pilgrims and preventing the transfer of pilgrims with vehicles that take less than 25 passengers to the holy sites.

Qatar Airways gives Hujaaj free Haj kits

Qatar Airways has announced that it is providing pilgrims with exclusive Haj kits designed and assembled with items to assist them during their spiritual journey.

The kits will be offered to all passengers travelling for pilgrimage on the airline’s flights to Jeddah and Madinah during the Haj season, starting from today.

The Haj kits were launched by Qatar Airways in 2015 and each kit includes items that are beneficial to pilgrims as they make their journey through the holy sites. The kit contains a prayer counter, prayer beads, a prayer mat, stone bag, socks and wet wipes, packaged in a bag that can also be used to carry shoes.

Qatar Airways senior vice-president (customer experience) Rossen Dimitrov said, “Providing our passengers with an exceptional journey is a priority for Qatar Airways, and we are delighted to be able to offer them a gift tailored to their specific needs while experiencing Haj.”

Qatar Airways operates four flights a day to Jeddah, and three flights a day to Madinah (from September 1), from Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha.

Through its home base at HIA, Qatar Airways connects passengers to more than 150 places around the world, providing pilgrims from across the globe with “easy, convenient access” to Saudi Arabia’s Holy sites, the airline has said in a statement.

Passengers can fly with Qatar Airways to and from eight destinations in Saudi Arabia – Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh, Abha, Dammam, Gassim, Hofuf and Taif.

This year has seen Qatar Airways launch 10 new routes through HIA. The new destinations, with several flights a week through Doha, are Los Angeles (US), Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), Sydney (Australia), Boston (US), Birmingham (UK), Adelaide (Australia), Yerevan (Armenia), Atlanta (US), Marrakech (Morocco) and Pisa (Italy).

From September, the airline will continue to add new destinations to its global map, including Windhoek (Namibia), Helsinki (Finland), Krabi (Thailand) and Seychelles.

Tabung Haji support staff happy to serve Malaysians during Haj

As about 300 Tabung Haji Support Staff are happy with Tabung Haji’s terms of employment, they have chosen to remain faithful to the organisation, some for more than two decades.

Most of them are local residents originating from Thailand and Indonesia, and proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and Arabic.

“I have been in service with Tabung Haji for 26 years, and I assist the medical team during the Haj season,” said Mustofa Bathul Bari, 52.

The local of Indonesian descent said his contract as support staff would be renewed by TH every year.

“I feel happy, and have never refused to serve Tabung Haji as I enjoy working with the organisation and also the Malaysian pilgrims who need our assistance,” said Mustofa, who works as a hotel staff here when not on Haj duty.

Abdul Rahman Bayo, 40, a Malay-Thai descendent said he had served as support staff in the Masya’ir Operations division for 10 years.

He said the friendliness of Malaysians and being taken care of by TH, despite he being merely a temporary staff, had prompted him to remain with the organisation for so long.

“Malaysians (pilgrims) are good, and Tabung Haji also help us a lot during each Haj season,” said the Al Azhar University graduate.

His friend, Hamdi Ismail Baheh, 39, who is also of Malay-Thai descent said he had thus far, served with TH as part-time support staff at the resident colleges for 16 years.

He said the friendly nature of Malaysians had attracted him to work with TH.

“We have become like family, and after the pilgrimage season, I am always contacted by them,” said the International Islamic University of Malaysia graduate.

Abdul Rahman and Hamdi Ismail are both staff of a Malaysian-owned Umrah services company.

Meanwhile, Musrifah Bukhari, 32, who has served as part-time support staff for five years now, hoped she would be picked for many more years to come.

“It is not that we don’t want to work with Haj agencies from other countries, but I feel very grateful to have served with Tabung Haji,” said the hotel staff, who is of Indonesian descent.

(Bernama)

Haj Counsellors Play Important Role During Annual Pilgrimage

Addressing the problems of pilgrims, such as couples almost getting a divorce or having poor memory while performing the Haj at the holy lands of Makkah and Madinah is among the most important tasks of Haj counsellors (PIHTAS).

Countless stories of grief and joy are safeguarded by counsellors who have for years, been tasked by Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) to help solve the problems of over 22,000 pilgrims, each Haj season.

For Ustaz Ramli Ibrahim, 62, who has helped TH five times, facing these kinds of issues has become common, however, he said the most important thing was to make sure the pilgrims completed their Haj successfully.

“They (pilgrims) have many problems when they arrive here, and if PIHTAS doesn’t give them immediate help, we fear their pilgrimage may not be able to be carried out properly, or it may even cause other problems.

“Although it is not easy to manage thousands of pilgrims, we still try to serve them in the best manner possible so that the issues can be resolved in a timely manner,” he said here, today.
(Bernama)

‘Lipan Bara’ on hand to help pilgrims

Every day, a small band of men in red shirts make their way quietly to Masjidil Haram here. The colour of their attire stands out so that each member of the 17-man team can be spotted easily. They are members of the Mecca patrol team, who are stationed at seven strategic points of the massive mosque to help pilgrims who are lost find their way back safely, as well as receive religious queries from pilgrims.

Team leader Mohammad Amer Jawahil said his team comprised 12 auxiliary policemen, three policemen and two Military Religious Corps personnel. “They are divided into two teams and work in three shifts round the clock. “I call them the ‘Lipan Bara’ team,” said Amer yesterday after the daily morning parade and briefing outside Masjidil Haram.

He said their main task was to ensure Malaysian pilgrims returned to their hostels safely. “Most of the cases occur on the first day when pilgrims are unsure of the direction of the gates and hostels. “They happen mainly at night or at dawn when pilgrims prefer to do their prayers.”

Amer said there had been cases of pilgrims losing their bearings after some gates are closed. “Sometimes, they are asked to exit from a different gate and this confuses them. This is when my team members will help them.” On religious queries, Amer said the team members would help with minor queries and refer them to Tabung Haji religious experts for major queries. The team’s three shifts are 7am to 2pm, 2pm to 10pm and 10pm to 7am.
(Bernama)