KUALA LUMPUR – Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) will prioritise pilgrims whose hajs were supposed to take place in 2020 for the pilgrimage this year.
TH group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin said they would be followed by pilgrims scheduled to perform their pilgrimage in 2021 and this year.
He said the haj selection was made based on a first-come, first-served registration system.
Amrin added that online haj appeals via the THiJARI mobile app had also been opened with priority given to those appealing as mahram.
He also advised prospective pilgrims to be prepared with the relevant documents, including their Covid-19 vaccination certificates and international passports.
Earlier today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad announced that a total of 14,306 Malaysian pilgrims were allowed to perform the haj this year, a mere 45% of the normal quota of Malaysian pilgrims given by Saudi Arabia.
The official pre-Covid-19 quota of haj pilgrims for Malaysia was 31,600.
Meanwhile, Amrin described the announcement as good news for TH and prospective Malaysian haj pilgrims.
He said early preparations had been made by taking into account the standard operating procedures and health protocols in handling the haj operations in the country as well as in the holy land.
The Saudi Arabian government previously set the haj quota for every country at 0.1% of the total population. – Bernama, April 21, 2022
