More than 1,000 preachers and interpreters will work round the clock to guide and instruct pilgrims on appropriate practices and correct rites during Haj.

Tawfiq Al-Sudairy, undersecretary at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, said the ministry planned to launch a number of programs for the enlightenment of pilgrims on the correct Islamic creed and to eliminate incorrect religious notions about the rites.

“The ministry is currently recruiting more than 1,000 preachers and interpreters to undertake Islamic awareness activities,” he said. “The Islamic Awareness Commission for Haj, which was constituted by a royal decree, is dealing with the recruitment process.”

The awareness programs include appointing preachers to answer questions posed by pilgrims on various religious issues in Makkah and Madinah and other places where pilgrims gather.

“The preachers will use materials and tools that will ensure the most effective guidance for the pilgrims,” he said, adding that eminent preachers and interpreters will explain correct Haj rites and Islamic rulings on various issues to the pilgrims in Arabic as well as in many other world languages.

Members of the awareness commission are drawn from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the Presidency of Scholarly Research and Iftaa, Ministry of Haj, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, Presidency of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Madinah Islamic University and the Umm Al-Qura University, he added.

When selecting candidates for preaching and interpretation, the commission will examine their educational achievements, skill in communicating with people, and their past experience in the field.

If the candidate is new to the field, his works, online and media contributions and other qualifications and skills will be taken into account, he said. Interpreters will accompany the preachers when dealing with non-Arabic-speaking pilgrims.

In the past, the ministry sought help from students in Islamic universities to work as interpreters in 20 languages, to prepare media materials in 13 languages, telephone conversations in eight languages and prepare publications in 32 languages, he said.

He said the services provided by the Secretariat of the Islamic Awareness in Haj and Umrah included free telephone clarification of doubts on religious matters.

The service is undertaken by competent scholars 24 hours a day. They receive thousands of calls from the Kingdom and abroad. The questions are answered in French, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian and Bengali as well as Arabic and English.