وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا ۚ

And [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage (Hajj) to the House – for whoever is able to make it there.

(Quran 3:97)

Hajj is one of the greatest acts of worship in Islam. It is a yearly congregation of Muslims from all around the world whether they be Arab, Asian, European or African, as well as reverts, scholars, young people, old people, the wealthy and the rich.

The Saudi Arabian government has announced for the second consecutive year that it will not allow any international pilgrims to perform Hajj due to COVID-19. While some may view this as a necessary safety protocol, in reality this decision is totally unacceptable and undermines an obligatory and spirituality powerful act of worship. Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam, and exists to strengthen the Islamic identity and the Ummah at large.

Rather than making this big decision independently, Saudia Arabia should have at least consulted other Muslim countries and come to some sort of decision. There are millions of Muslims around the world waiting to complete the Hajj especially after the cancellation last year, most notably the elderly who have been waiting their whole lives to go are afraid they may not be around next year to perform Hajj. Yes, there needs to be restrictions in place to reduce COVID transmission (such as reducing numbers, endorsing a compulsory quarantine period and other appropriate protocols), but you cannot cancel Hajj.

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