Moslems encouraged to go on the minor haj

Moslems encouraged to go on the minor haj

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has advised Moslems to perform an umrah (mini haj) pilgrimage because the ceiling quota for Indonesian haj pilgrims is filled every year.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher quoted the President as saying yesterday that the number of Indonesian haj pilgrims this year has already reached 174,000.

Registration is open until Sunday.

Tarmizi believes the number will surpass 180,000, but the final figure will not be known before Jan. 31.

Last year Indonesia sent 158,533 pilgrims to the Holy Land, an increase of 29 percent from the previous year. The quota for Indonesia set by the Saudi government is 160,000.

The minister, quoting Soeharto, added that Moslems who have already made the haj pilgrimage may return to the Holy Land for umrah. And, for those who have not yet made the pilgrimage to Mecca, umrah provides valuable training.

Tarmizi said his ministry had no data on the umrah pilgrimages, which are organized by authorized travel agencies or Islamic study groups.

"But if seeing is believing," he said, "there are more and more Indonesian umrah pilgrims around the Kaabah holy shrine in Mecca every month."

He said that there was growing interest on the part of Moslems to spend their holidays in the Holy Land, although not all of those concerned were wealthy.

According the minister the increase in the number of haj pilgrims stems from improvements people's incomes, especially in rural areas.

Haj is compulsory for every Moslem who can afford to go to Mecca, once in a lifetime.

Soeharto and members of his family made the haj pilgrimage in 1991. During that pilgrimage the President changed his name to Haji Muhammad Soeharto.(tis)