Male guardian must for women to perform Haj Oman

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Muscat: The Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs has affirmed that a guardian or ‘mahram’ needs to be present when a woman performs Haj.

“A guardian is must for women who want to perform Haj,” Dr Mohammad Al Mamari, the scientific adviser for the Minister of Endowment and Religious Affairs, told a daily newspaper.

Al Mamari added that the age is the primary requirement to perform Haj with priority going to older pilgrims.

He revealed that there has been a sharp decline in the Haj prices after introducing the new e-registration system, which has curbed the fake Haj tour operators as well as streamlined distribution of Haj cards.

“The price ranges between 600 to 1,800 rials (by road) and 1,300 to 3,700 rials (by air),” said Al Mamari.

Al Mamri said that May 25 is the deadline for the pilgrim to choose a Haj tour operator. There are 231 operators nationwide.

“There is no excuse now for anyone to go for fake Haj operators after introducing the e-registration system last April,” said Al Mamari.

As many as 9,081 Omanis have got approval to perform Haj this year, out of 11,200 slots allocated for Oman.

Last year, about 753 pilgrims paid more than 900,000 rials to eleven Haj operators only to find out later that they had been provided with fake Haj permits.

Omani pilgrims were stuck at Batha border post of Saudi Arabia for more than five days as they headed to Makkah to perform Haj.

Those fake Haj operators were referred to the Public Prosecution and trials are ongoing.

More than 100 cases were registered against Haj tour operators for violating rules last year. It included bribery, forgery as well as fake tour plans.

From Oman, 11,200 pilgrims from Oman, including 10,015 nationals, 580 Arab pilgrims and 605 non-Arab pilgrims, performed Haj last year.

Staff Report