RIYADH: Various Dawa and travel groups in the capital have started offering attractive travel packages for local Haj pilgrims.
The Dawa Center in Riyadh has offered an eight-day package for SR4,200, which includes three meals a day during the journey.
The pilgrimage would start from Riyadh on Dul Hijjah 6 and end on the 14th day of the month.
Besides the meals, pilgrims will be given accommodation in Mina, transport within the holy city and a guide to help them perform the Haj rituals.
“We will look after all the pilgrims’ needs except the animal sacrifice,” Moulavi Mohammed Zafarullah of the center told Arab News, adding that pilgrims have to pay for the animal and its slaughter.
He explained that those who cannot afford it could fast for 10 days instead. Zafarullah said that the offer is open to families who wish to perform the pilgrimage this year.
He added that the inflated cost of the package is solely due to the revised cost of accommodation and transport and also because of the increase in food prices. He also said that pilgrims would be given an orientation program before their departure to the holy city. He said that the pilgrims would be given accommodation in the old Mina area.
The Dawa group in the north of the capital in the Mohammadiya district charges only SR1,000 for a bachelor.
A spokesman for the group said part of the package is subsidized by the Dawah center to help bachelors and new Muslims perform Haj at an affordable price.
Moulavi Muhammad Basheer, who is organizing another group, said that he charges SR2,850 for the pilgrimage, which includes meals, accommodation, transport and medical aid when necessary.
However, he said that the pilgrims have to pay for their own meals during their travel to and from Makkah. Pilgrims will be ferried to and from Makkah in luxury coaches. He said the pilgrims would be given accommodation in Makkah.
Basheer pointed out that his package includes transport between Makkah and Arafat via Mina and Muzdalifah. However, he added that if the Mashair Railway (Makkah Metro) project is implemented this year, he would ask pilgrims to pay the train fares themselves, as they are not included in the package.
The head of a Filipino group, organizing a similar package for SR3,000, said that pilgrims have to pay for their meals. People who wish to perform the pilgrimage by flying to and from Makkah are being charged between SR8,000 to SR12,000, depending on the nature of accommodation provided in Mina.
Luxury accommodation in the vicinity of the stoning area (Jamarat) is more expensive than the tents found in the old Mina area. The cost of accommodation in the new Mina area is found to be the cheapest in the holy areas.
Travel operators also process the paperwork for Haj permits. Pilgrims are asked to complete the standard forms issued by the passport department and provide copies of their iqamas (residence permit), passport, certificate of vaccination against meningitis and four photographs.
Local pilgrims are allowed to perform Haj once every five years. Interested pilgrims can log onto the Ministry of Interior’s online service to check their eligibility for the pilgrimage.
The Saudi government has made arrangements for pilgrims to offer their sacrifice through the Saudi Project For the Utilization of Haj Meat, carried out in coordination with the Islamic Development Bank.
The prescribed time frame for sacrifice extends until the sunset of the third day after Eid, a total of 84 hours.
