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Saudi Arabia eases travel for pilgrims ahead of national day
Pilgrims at the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, on July 16. PHOTO/AFP
What you need to know:
The announcement came as the Saudi Embassy prepares to mark the National Day on September 23, which celebrates the inauguration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by an official proclamation by King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud in 1932, after being called the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz
Saudi Arabia has allowed Muslims from Uganda and other countries to make pilgrimage to Mecca, easing restrictions imposed last year to prevent the spread of Covid at the holy sites.
Source from Foreign Affairs ministry and Federation of Hijja and Umrah Bureau of Uganda told Daily Monitor that aspiring pilgrims can now apply to perform the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, known as umrah, as long as they are fully vaccination.
The announcement came as the Saudi Embassy prepares to mark the National Day on September 23, which celebrates the inauguration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by an official proclamation by King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud in 1932, after being called the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz. It was made a national holiday by King Abdullah in 2005.
The kingdom, according to other sources close to Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, approved the vaccines made by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Foreigners who have received two doses of either the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines can enter only if they have also received a third shot of one of the four approved vaccines.
The government of Uganda has ring-fenced the 300,000 doses of Sinopharm for teachers and the Chinese have pledged additional 300,000 next month. The rest of the people (about 6 per cent so far) have been vaccinated using donated doses of AstraZeneca.
Last year, Saudi Arabia barred travellers from Uganda and other foreign nations from both Umrah and Hajj, which attract millions of pilgrims from all over the world. For the main pilgrimage, aka Hajj, this is done by physically able and financially stable Muslims at least once in one’s lifetime in fulfilment of one of the pillars of Islamic faith.
Foreign pilgrims also missed this year’s hajj in July. However, Umrah can be performed at any time of the year.
Officials from the Federation of Hijja and Umrah Bureau of Uganda revealed that before the pandemic, Uganda had 1,000 slots for Umrah and Hajji respectively. The relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Uganda remains cordial. President Museveni visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between December 13 and 14, 2015 and met Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and held talks on issues of mutual interest between the two countries.
The Saudis have since opened its doors to Ugandan maids and other workers, boosting Uganda’s forex exchange earnings since around 165,000 Ugandans working in the Middle East and contribute more than $650m (Shs3.7 trillion) yearly to the economy.
To foster the relationship between the two countries, Saudi government sent His Excellence Jamal Mohammed Al-Madan last year replacing Dr Abdallah Fahd Al-Qahtani.
Muslim leaders speak out
Muslim leaders have welcomed the decision.
Sheikh Ali Waiswa, the deputy mufti of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), said: “We know that Saudi Arabia can maintain the SOPs and allow Muslims to go for umrah and hajji because even other cities allow visitors ...”
Secretary General for the Federation of Hajji Bureau in Uganda Zakaria Kiwalyanga said Uganda used to take more than 1,000 Muslims for hajji and umrah and if they have spent two years without going, it means more than 4,000 Muslims are still pending for pilgrimage, adding that Mecca is one of the places where people talk and pray to God peacefully.
Covid-19 measures
Muslim who are ready to go for Umrah should be ready to clear all the health requirements as per Covid-19 travel rules, including vaccination of two doses, valid certificate of vaccination, recent test of PCR polymerase chain reaction valid for 72 hours and ready for three days quarantine in Saudi Arabia
