REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Ministry of Religious Affairs) will create a new scheme related to health conditions. The Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has coordinated with the Minister of Health (Menkes) to formulate the best measures to maintain the health of Hajj pilgrims.
“We agreed that istitha'ah (the condition of ability) will be a condition for pilgrims to pay (Bipih),” Yaqut said on Saturday (21/10/2023).
Indonesia records 773 death on this year hajj procession. It is the highest number ever recorded in the history of the pilgrimage from Indonesia. The high rate of death is related to the high percentage of old and high risk pilgrims.
Yaqut explained that later potential pilgrims will undergo two examinations. The goal is for the worshipper to know the early state of his health and to have time to make a recovery.
“We start early November for health screening of pilgrims so that the time is longer, if any pilgrims have certain diseases, there is time to recover,” he said.
Yaqut said health checks were carried out twice. Pilgrims who are less well are recommended that there be a recovery process.
On the second inspection, if it is good, it is entitled to pay off. It wants the number of sick and dead pilgrims in Saudi Arabia to be suppressed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also hold a muzakarah perhajian in Yogyakarta on 23-25 October 2023. Mudzakarah, among other things, will discuss the issue of health istitha'ah requirements. Mudzakarah was attended by representatives of religious ormas and health practitioners.
Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) received souvenirs from his visit to Saudi Arabia in the form of an additional quota of Hajj 1445 H/2024 AD of 20,000 pilgrims. The additional quota was given as one of the results of a meeting between President Jokowi and Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
Yaqut is grateful for the additional Hajj quota. According to him, the additional information on quotas is encouraging news as well as a challenge.
“We are grateful that the president said in particular that Indonesia received an additional quota from Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at least 20,000. It's happiness as well as a challenge,” Yaqut said after taking off the road marking Santri Day 2023 in front of Grahadi State Building in Surabaya on Saturday (21/10/2023).
Menag said that additional quotas will have an impact on decreasing queues. This is good news but the addition of quotas is also a challenge because the hajj occation has to be prepared even better.