REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organization (PHU) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Hilman Latief confirmed that strengthening the eligibility (istitha'ah) is a must for prospective pilgrims who will go on Hajj in the next year. The istita'ah in question covers two main things, namely health and financial statuses.

“Strengthening the istitha'ah for Hajj pilgrims continues to be studied as a material for better evaluation of Hajj,” he said in a statement obtained by Republika.co.id, Saturday (14/10/2023).

Therefore, this year, prospective Hajj pilgrims are required to meet the eligibility criteria, particularly in terms of health and financial aspects. This was conveyed by Hilman during the conference, namely "Strengthening the Management of Hajj and Umrah for Enhancing Islamic Boarding School Self-reliance and Muslim Community Economy" at IAIN Metro Bandar Lampung, Thursday (12/10/2023).

Hilman explained that Hajj is a physical act of worship that can only be done in excellent condition. Therefore, the prospective pilgrims (calon jamaah haji/calhaj) are also expected to be able to prepare themselves in terms of health.

Based on the evaluation of the Hajj in 2023, the Indonesian government in particular the Ministry of Religious Affairs finds a complex situation. It is recorded that there are about 61,000 elderly pilgrims who had to be sent to Saudi Arabia.

This condition was also influenced by the fact that there were no Hajj in two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021 ,due to Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, there were restrictions in 2022. All those factors led to the situation in which all the elderly pilgrims departed to the Holy Land in 2023. In addition, the government increased the priority quota of the elderly to 5 percent.

“In the Quran, the Hajj commandment is always accompanied by the phrase Hajj performed for the able. 'Being able' here must be (undestood) as capability in both physical and financial terms. Considering that the Hajj management does cost a lot of money,” Hilman continued.

Regarding the cost of Hajj, he explained that the sustainability of the ideal Hajj financial management can be achieved if the value of the benefits and the cost of Hajj pilgrimage (Biaya perjalanan haji/Bipih) have an ideal presentation of 30 percent and 70 percent.

“The cost of Hajj also has an impact on the sustainability of Hajj financial management, where if the value of the benefits or subsidies is equal or even higher than the Hajj costs incurred by the pilgrims, the financial stability of the Hajj (management) will be compromised,” he said.

Hilman also added that he will evaluate the current cost of Hajj pilgrimage with a solid basis. This is intended to realize the sustainability of the ideal Hajj financial management, as well as to carry out the process of the prospective pilgrims' health capability (istita'ah) more rigorously. Moreover, he said, in 2024 the health capability assessment for the prospective Hajj pilgrims will be conducted before they settle the Hajj fees.