Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-09-30

South African Muslims are looked upon in a very good light by Saudi Arabia. This is according to the South African Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohammad Siddiq Jaffer.

Jaffer who was born in Cape Town has been the ambassador to Saudi Arabia for the last three and half years and responsible for strengthening, deepening and diversifying bilateral relations between the two countries.

Speaking to Radio Islam’s Mufti Yusuf Moosagie who is in the Kingdom to perform Hajj, Jaffer said the Saudi’s feel South African’s are very good Muslims.

“In the context of the fact that as a minority we have shown that we are very focused on protecting and expanding the religion and that for the Saudi’s is very important.”

Jaffar said that as far as hajj accreditation is concerned, the Saudi’s prefer dealing with one organization per country and therefore accredited the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) as the hajj body to represent all South African hujjaj in the Kingdom.

The issues of hajj quotas is always a contentious issue and while Saudi Arabia would like to accommodate all hujjaj, that is not always possible.

“The quota system was introduced to ensure that we have the maximum number of hujjaj from all over the world that’s able to come. There’s obviously a limit in terms of the capacity that Saudi Arabia can actually accommodate,” said Jaffer.

Although quotas are generally for a lot of countries, not all countries are subjected to the quota systems due to discussions which the Saudi government has with a particular country.

“Generally the quota would be that for every million Muslims that you have, you are able to have a thousand hujjaj,” said Jaffar.

Saudi Arabia has affected a global quota cut of 20% due to renovations to the various holy sites in the Kingdom.  “Once the renovations are complete, we’ve been told Saudi Arabia will increase the global quota for hajj which means our quota will increase.”

Renovations are expected to be completed within a 3 to 5 year period according to Jaffer which will make it easier for the Saudi government to accommodate more hujjaj and for hujjaj to move around more comfortably in the Kingdom.

Jaffer also elaborated if South Africa wanted to use neighbouring countries unused quotas to accommodate hujjaj, there has to be regional or bilateral discussions and an agreement in place between the countries.

“That agreements can then be formally transmitted to the Saudi Government and I am sure the Saudi Government will look upon it favourably, because that does not increase the global quota.”

Jaffer said it’s important for all South Africans that have not been on hajj to start saving for hajj, register and Insha’Allah get accredited.

“Hajj is a very enlightening and enriching experience and as a Muslim it’s something we aspire to…There’s nothing better than standing on the plains of Araf’ah at the time of Wuqoof and that’s something that I would like every Muslim to able to share and say ‘I’ve been there and done that,’” said Jaffer.

(Twitter: @Faizie143)