Radio Islam International | 05 Dhul Hijjah 1437/07 September 2016

Malaysians advised on savvy phone usage during Hajj

Malaysians performing the haj are advised to be well-informed on international roaming service with their mobile phones to avoid receiving a huge telecommunications (telco) bill when they return home.

The Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) said they needed to understand how international voice and data roaming works and what the charges were for these services under their current mobile plan.

“This is very important as consumers are responsible for all charges incurred while overseas as these services involve not only their service provider in Malaysia but also the roaming partner in the country they are visiting,” CFM said in a statement today.

It added that consumers might want to explore other alternatives to stay connected with their family and friends while overseas.

One of the tips on international roaming shared by CFM is that if people just want to receive calls and SMS while overseas, they can choose to turn off data roaming completely.

Consumers should also deactivate the ‘Automatic Connection to Networks’ setting and ensure they are always connected to the service provider’s roaming partner to enjoy preferential rates.

“Should you wish to stay connected on Wifi only, you can choose to switch your mobile phone to ‘Airplane’ or ‘Flight’ mode and make use of public WiFi hotspots available,” CFM said.

It said a cheaper option might be to get a local Saudi SIM card and choosing the best package that suits the intended usage for the duration of the stay.

“It’s always useful to bring a spare cheap feature phone just in case you can use it with a local SIM card to receive or make important calls and switch to your smartphone to WiFi only,” it said.

It also urged users to back up all contacts and important data in case they lost their phone.

“It advised consumers to always talk to their local service provider before travelling overseas so that they are aware and fully informed of all relevant charges that may apply.

In another development, CFM chairman Megat Ishak Maamunor Rashid said CFM had received 248 complaints over both international voice and data roaming charges in the first seven months of 2016.

It received a total of 90 complaints in 2015 and 87 the year before that.

He said CFM would continue to increase its efforts to ensure that consumers were well-informed and not shortchanged by continuously monitoring the service delivery of telecommunication service providers.

It would also address any breaches of the General Consumer Code of Practice for the Communication and Multimedia industry in Malaysia, he added.

Wounds of Hajj stampede linger on

Despite being emotionally scarred by the death of two childhood friends during last year’s haj stampede, Muhammad Sani has still returned to Saudi Arabia for another pilgrimage.

The Nigerian pharmacist, 46, says his faith remains unshaken even after the deaths of at least 2,297 pilgrims during the haj stoning ritual last September 24.

A year after the worst disaster in haj history, Sani is among more than 1.4 million foreign pilgrims expected at this year’s pilgrimage after the kingdom quietly made safety improvements.

The event, one of the largest gatherings in the world, starts on Saturday.

“I miraculously escaped unhurt, but the incident has left a scar in my heart that will never heal,” Sani said after arriving in the kingdom with his wife.

He and others are making the journey reassured within themselves that death can come anywhere – stampede or not – and with the expectation that safety has improved.

The haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which capable Muslims must perform at least once, marking the spiritual peak of their lives.

This year’s pilgrimage also follows a July suicide bombing which killed four security officers outside Islam’s second-holiest site, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.

No one claimed responsibility, but Islamic State group adherents have carried out other blasts in the kingdom.

The bombing drew condemnation across Islam’s Sunni-Shiite divide, unlike the stampede which sparked foreign criticism, particularly from Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran which reported the largest number of dead at 464.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday resumed Tehran’s tirade, questioning Saudi Arabia’s right to manage Islam’s holiest sites.

PROBE RESULTS NOT REVEALED

He said the Saudis did not prosecute those at fault for the stampede, accused them of showing no remorse, and said they “refused to allow an international Islamic fact-finding committee”.

This will be the first time in almost three decades that pilgrims from the world’s major Shiite power will not join the haj.

Iran sent 60,000 pilgrims last year but in May the two sides – at odds over a series of regional issues – said they could not agree on their participation this time.

One contentious matter was security following the stampede.

Saudi Arabia says that Iranian pilgrims are still welcome if they come from other countries.

The stampede happened as pilgrims made their way to the Jamarat Bridge for a symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina, east of Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site.

Pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor crowd control, but Saudi officials said pilgrims had not followed the rules.

Although Riyadh stuck with a death toll of 769, data from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally almost three times higher.

Saudi Arabia announced an investigation, but no results have ever been revealed.

The response contrasts markedly with what happened following another tragedy just before last year’s haj.

Officials have put 14 people on trial accused of negligence and other charges after at least 109 pilgrims and others died when a construction crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque.

“They have not been transparent about it as they have with the crane incident, and that would only make you conclude that the blame was more on the authorities than on the pilgrims,” said a source closely following the stampede case.

More high-tech this year

After the tragedy, King Salman, who holds the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”, ordered “a revision” of haj organisation.

Public statements and Saudi press reports show that changes have been made even though no one was ever blamed for the stampede.

The Arab News daily reported that roads in the Jamarat area were expanded and some pilgrims’ accommodation relocated.

More space was freed up when government facilities were moved out of Mina, Saudi Gazette reported.

The Ministry of Haj and Umra is also taking a high-tech approach to improving safety.

For the first time, pilgrims will receive electronic bracelets storing their personal information.

The timing of the Jamarat stoning has been restricted, and the haj ministry says surveillance cameras and other electronic controls will monitor crowd flow, comparing it with computer projections.

Pilgrims say they have already detected other changes, including speedier processing at the airport.

“We notice a huge improvement in the services and care,” said Asi Wat Azizan, an official with the Thai delegation.

“We are not afraid of any accidents,” said Najwa Hassan, a Sudanese pilgrim.

Saudi Arabia “is already taking action” to ensure last year’s tragedy will never recur, said Indonesia’s top official overseeing the hajj, Abdul Jamil.

Oumou Khadiatou Diallo, a Malian pilgrim who survived the stampede but saw seven people die around her, says God has called her to return despite the trauma she suffered.

“I hope that the safety is going to be improved,” she said before leaving Bamako for Saudi Arabia, burdened by her memories.

“I think of all the dead from last year. What I saw often comes back to me, and that hurts.”

Nigerian generals go for Hajj

Determined to win the war against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and other security challenges facing the country, the leadership of the Nigerian Army has sent 450 officers on a spiritual mission to the 2016 hajj to pray for the success of the Army and the country

Speaking to a group of Nigerian journalists in Makkah, yesterday, the leader of the delegation, Col. Shehu Garba Mustapha, urged all Nigerian pilgrims presently in the holy land of Saudi Arabia for the 2016 hajj, to pray for Nigeria and for President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“We don’t have any other country to call our own, other than Nigeria. The present government needs our prayers to succeed and we must pray for Mr President and his team. I use this opportunity to call on all Nigerian pilgrims to pray for our country, Mr President and the leaders and those who lost their lives, may Allah forgive them.

“Both the security and other challenges that we are facing in our nation, we should make requests to Allah to remove and uproot them from Nigeria. Anytime we go to pray, we should pray for Nigeria and Mr President,” he said.

Col Mustapha lauded the new measures adopted by the Saudi government for the 2016 hajj stoning ritual and gave the assurance that the Nigerian soldiers on pilgrimage will abide by the new rules.

He said a member of the Army Force Hajj Team will collaborate with the NAHCON to impart the dos and don’ts of the new rules to all Nigerian pilgrims and will assist the pilgrims during the exercise.

“Anything that we are asked to do, as a law-abiding and disciplined agency, we will comply. We will also collaborate with NAHCON officials to impart the same to other Nigerian pilgrims. We are not here for only Nigerian Army Force’s pilgrims. We also need to assist our Nigerian brothers and sisters who are here on hajj in performing their hajj exercise.

“The new arrangement is a welcome development because it doesn’t allow violence. It is in accordance with Islamic injunction that whenever there are difficulties, you are allowed to do things that you were not allowed to do under normal circumstances,” he said.  –LEADERSHIP

800 Sierra Leoneans Make Hajj

Sierra Leone’s president bade farewell to the first group of Muslims to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in two years after Ebola hit the African country in 2014.

Ernest Bai Koroma saw off 800 Muslim citizens making the journey to Mecca for this year’s Hajj on Monday.

Sierra Leone plus neighboring Guinea and Liberia were banned from sending Hajj pilgrims during the peak of the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

President Koroma, who is a Christian, said the determination of Sierra Leonean pilgrims to make Hajj after two years indicates that Islam is a religion of peace and brotherhood, despite a minority using terrorism to give the faith a bad image.

“As a nation we have a big responsibility because Sierra Leone is a leader in religious tolerance. I encourage you, the pilgrims, to be messengers of peace during and after the Hajj pilgrimage,” Koroma added.

Chairman of the Sierra Leone Hajj Committee Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray, said Koroma received clearance from the Saudi monarchy to allow Muslims from the country to travel.

He said 18 buses were already lined up to ferry pilgrims to Lungi International Airport and that a medical team would be part of the delegation to Mecca.

A Sierra Leonean Muslim scholar, Alhajie Sallieu, told Anadolu Agency Hajj was the fifth pillar of Islam. It takes place in the month of Dhul Hijjah which is the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar.

He said the pilgrimage is obligatory for all Muslims once in their lifetime but on two conditions: “A Muslim must be physically and financially strong in other to fulfill this obligation.”

The pilgrims will depart Sierra Leone later today.

Transportation Of Zamzam Water From Makkah underway

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in continuance of its determination to ensure the 2016 hajj is successful without difficulties for Nigerian pilgrims, has commenced the transportation of Pilgrims’ Zamzam ((holy water)to Nigeria from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON chairman, Barrister Abdullahi Muktar Muhammad disclosed this while interacting with members of the 2016 hajj media team in Abuja.

He said the move is to ease the problem of Pilgrims from carrying excess luggage when the return leg of the Hajj Airlift commences after the Hajj exercise.

According to him, every pilgrim is entitled to a 5 litre of Zamzam on arrival from Saudi Arabia back to Nigeria.

He said with this development, pilgrims would not have to bother themselves carrying Zamzam back to Nigeria as every pilgrim would be given his or her own on arrival in Nigeria at their various hajj camps.

He said the zamzam has so far been delivered to Gombe, Maiduguri, Lagos, Kaduna and Kano departure zones ahead of the pilgrims return.

Meanwhile over 30 thousand Pilgrims have so far been airlifted to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.