Prabowo Appreciates 2026 Hajj Implementation, Provides Notes for Next Year
Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf revealed that President Prabowo Subianto expressed appreciation for the implementation of the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage. According to Irfan, this achievement was inseparable from the constructive cooperation between the Ministry of Hajj and the House of Representatives (DPR) as the Hajj Supervisory Team.
“We reported on the implementation of the 2026 Hajj, where we received positive marks on several points, although it does not rule out the possibility that there are some areas that need improvement,” said Gus Irfan after meeting Prabowo in Hambalang, Bogor, on Wednesday (17/6/2026).
He explained that the challenges for the 2026 Hajj were considerable, given that he was only inaugurated as Minister of Hajj in September 2025. Meanwhile, the Hajj preparation stages from the Government of Saudi Arabia began in June 2025, forcing his team to catch up on lost time.
“This means we were about 3-4 months behind, but thank God, with the cooperation of the entire team, we were able to catch up. Thank God, today, especially with the DPR, and I am very pleased that the President gave his appreciation for this year’s Hajj implementation,” he said.
In his report to Prabowo, Gus Irfan also outlined several service improvements that became positive notes for this year’s Hajj. One of them was the acceleration of pilgrim visa issuance, which was completed by mid-Ramadan. “This is an extraordinarily remarkable thing,” he stated.
Additionally, the distribution of Nusuk cards was carried out domestically. This step was deemed successful in minimising various persistent problems, such as pilgrims being separated from their families. “There are no more stories of pilgrims separated from their families, pilgrims not getting a hotel despite having arrived there, or pilgrims being scattered everywhere—no more,” he said.
Gus Irfan also assessed that the quality of this year’s Hajj services had exceeded the standard of the package used. Although officially still using the Package D scheme, the quality of service provided was said to be close to the Package C standard.
“Furthermore, we have started to require multi-year contracts to ensure that services must be good and can provide a guarantee for vendors to deliver the best service, and we can also obtain better prices,” he added.
For the next Hajj implementation, according to him, Prabowo provided several directives regarding the improvement of pilgrim services. These directives include providing better and earlier-prepared meals and arranging hotel accommodation to be more comfortable for Indonesian pilgrims.
“The President gave input for improving services for Hajj pilgrims for the year 2027, including how meals can be prepared earlier and better,” he said. “Then, he also provided input on how hotel accommodations must be better organised,” concluded Gus Irfan.