Hajj Mabrur Ventures Limited (HMVL), one of Nigeria’s leading private tour operators for Hajj and Umrah, on Sunday organised the first phase of its seminar for its intending pilgrims, with the Managing Director, Alhaji AbdulHameed Solate, stating their preparedness for the #Hajj2023 exercise.
The seminar which held at the Islamic Centre, University of Lagos, was attended by various stakeholders including Muslim scholars, representatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and a medical team, among others.
Muslim News gathered that Hajj Mabrur was allocated 200 slots by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) but has entered into partnership with other agencies to go for Hajj with additional 110 intending pilgrims.
“Hajj Mabrur is prepared”, he said, adding, “We have done everything from our side. We have done medical screening for our pilgrims including vaccination. We are holding a seminar today (Sunday) to enlighten them and provide guidelines to make their Hajj a successful one. All necessary souvenirs have been distributed to our pilgrims too. Our ticketing is over 70 percent concluded. We are set. We are just waiting for the visas to be issued.
According to him, “Officially, we have 200 slots, but we will eventually be going with 310 people because we entered into some partnerships. As we do, we have a minimum of one official to 25 pilgrims including medical personnel, scholars, admin and field officers. We are prepared.
“I believe Hajj Mabrur can do better if we were given more slots for the allocation. Before COVID-19, we had not taken anything less than 350. We hope that with time, there will be difference. Last year, it was cut down to 50. Hopefully next year, we will get a slot like we used to have from the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).”
The MD further stated that it’s a normal routine for pilgrims at Hajj Mabrur to be fed local delicacies.
Scholar Charges Pilgrims On Patience
In his presentation, Sheikh Sa’eed Salman tasked the intending pilgrims with patience, noting there would be no hitches during the spiritual exercise.
According to him, Allah mentioned patience in not less than 90 places in the Qur’an and this accentuates the fact that it is very important in all we do.
“Even we may assert that there is nothing referred to as an achievement without patience. If you don’t have patience, I doubt you will achieve anything in life. Allah says, “Seek assistance with two things: patience and salat.” All these points to the fact that patience is important in all we do,” he said.
“For hajj and travelling in general, there’s no travelling without its hiccups or hitches. Therefore, when you want to embark on any journey, you have to be patient. For hajj, you can’t even determine what goes on there. Hajj would be done at the same time by millions of people. So you need patience. You will step on people; people will step on you. While waiting for a flight at the airport, you may spend more than you planned for. We should be patient over all these.
“More so, if you look at Madinah and Makkah; the sun in those two cities is so scorching. You have to bear it. Some rites will require that you trek. In Islam, if you want to achieve anything, you do it through patience.”
The scholar also encouraged the intending pilgrims to write their will before embarking on the hajj, noting no one knows what Allah has destined.
“The need for a will is that if eventually, someone joins his ancestors, there won’t be any problem. His assets and liabilities would be known. Though everyone going for hajj wants to return home, we do not know what Allah has destined.”
Apply for passports on time – NIS
A representative of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mallam Sulaiman Hassan Muhammed, has urged pilgrims to always apply for their passports on time to quickly clear challenges that might affect the issuance.
The assistant comptroller at NIS said they did not encounter challenges in the issuance of passports to pilgrims this year like last year because of increased awareness.
“Last year, a new passport was introduced. We call it the enhanced passport; it carries the NIN. The time for issuance of this passport varies. For this passport, the information on the NIN must tally with the ones provided by the applicant. These are some of the problems we encountered with the issuance last hajj. And you find people saying immigration delayed the issuance of their passport. The fault was not entirely on us.
“The Service has now introduced an appointment date. There is a grace of 5 to 6 weeks between your capturing and appointment dates. Applicants are expected to rectify issues related to their passports, especially their NIN.
“We are now increasing our awareness and enlightenment campaign for people to start the process of applying for their passport early. This year, we did not encounter so many challenges. We gave intending pilgrims the privilege of early capturing.
“My advice to intending pilgrims is to always commence their application process for passport as early as possible. No visa will be given on a passport that is not valid for more than six months. Anyone going to hajj with a passport not valid for six months should be advised to apply for a new one before the time-lapse.”
He, however, explained that the Nigeria Immigration has a way of sorting passports for emergency pilgrims.
“Some people do not know they would be going for hajj until the last minute. We have a way of issuing passports to people in this category. They just need to go to our nearby offices, present their documents and indicate that they are on emergency hajj. Everything will be sorted out,” he said.
Don’t embarrass Nigeria, avoid illicit drug trafficking – NDLEA
For his part, the representative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the seminar, Mallam Mallum Musa, told the intending pilgrims that illicit drug trafficking is a source of embarrassment for Nigeria.
Musa, an Assistant Commander, Narcotics with the NDLEA, therefore cautioned the pilgrims to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations of both Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, the host country about illicit drugs.
“In Nigeria, if you are caught with illicit drugs, you will face the wrath of the law and forfeit your assets. In Saudi Arabia, they won’t come to Nigeria, the victim would rather be executed. Many of our citizens have been executed in Saudi Arabia because of trafficking illicit drugs. So, it’s important to obey the rules and be safe.
“We have been recording great compliance from Nigerian citizens in recent times, though it’s not 100 percent. We still face several issues. During the last umrah, for instance, somebody was arrested with cocaine hidden in wrappers and clothes. However, he did not get to Saudi Arabia before he was nabbed. Had it been he made it to Saudi Arabia, that would be a dent on Nigeria’s image . So, at NDLEA, we enlighten pilgrims often because we don’t want embarrassment for the country.”
The NDLEA officer commended Hajj Mabrur for organising the seminar, noting it would guide the pilgrims appropriately.
He added: “My candid advice is that all those that have been called by Allah to perform this year’s hajj should fear Him. They are going there for spiritual purposes, so they should have the fear of Allah in them. The ultimate objective is for the hajj to be accepted. So, they should be spiritually and legally upright.”