KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) will give priority to pilgrims whose haj turn was supposed to take place in 2020 to perform the pilgrimage this year.
TH group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin said this was followed by pilgrims who were scheduled to perform their pilgrimage in 2021 and this year.
He said the haj turn selection was made based on the haj registration system which was on a first-come, first-served basis.
He added that the online haj appeal via the THiJARI mobile application had also been opened with priority given to those who appealed as ‘mahram’.
Amrin also advised prospective pilgrims to be prepared with the relevant documents including their Covid-19 vaccination certificate and international passport.
Earlier today, Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad announced that a total of 14,306 Malaysian pilgrims were allowed to perform haj this year, a mere 45 per cent of the normal quota of Malaysian pilgrims given by Saudi Arabia.
The official pre-Covid-19 quota of haj pilgrims for Malaysia was 31,600.
Meanwhile, Amrin described the announcement as good news for TH and prospective Malaysian haj pilgrims.
He said early preparations had been made by taking into account the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and health protocols in handling the haj operations in the country as well as in the holy land.
The Saudi Arabian government has previously set the haj quota for every country at 0.1 per cent of the total population.
— Bernama
