MAKKAH, 15 December 2007 — The Haj Establishment for Non-Arab Africans, which this year serves more than 170,000 pilgrims from 47 African countries, is one of the largest pilgrim organizations, according to Muhammad Shukri Zamzami, deputy head of the pilgrim grouping committee.
Zamzami made this observation on Thursday while speaking at a workshop on dispatching pilgrims for the Jamrat ritual, which involves the stoning of three pillars that symbolize Satan. Sending pilgrims to the Jamrat Bridge in groups following a time schedule is a significant measure to avoid crowding at the stone-throwing locations.
Those who attended the workshop included: Abdullah Al-Faiz, undersecretary at the Makkah governor’s office, Hatem Qadi, undersecretary at the Haj Ministry, Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Khulaiwi, deputy commander of the forces for Monitoring Pedestrian Movement, and Abdul Wahid Saifuddin, president of the Haj Establishment for Non-Arab Africans. Heads of Haj delegations from 23 countries and representatives of various tourism companies attended the workshop.
Zamzami briefly outlined the activities of the Haj Establishment for Non-Arab Africans since its inception 24 years ago besides giving a detailed description of the grouping operation of pilgrims.
The other speakers on the occasion described the Kingdom’s efforts to serve the guests of Allah by launching massive development projects in Makkah and the holy sites.
Nigeria tops the list of countries affiliated with this organization, sending approximately 95,000 pilgrims this year. Senegal ranks second with 15,000 pilgrims while South Africa (5,500 pilgrims) is in the third place.
