Pregnant women advised on haj pilgrimmage

JAKARTA (JP): The government has reiterated its advice that pregnant women not perform the haj pilgrimage.

The director general of Islamic and haj pilgrimage affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Taufik Kamil, said recently it was too risky for pregnant women to take part in the pilgrimage because of a ruling by the Saudi Arabian government requiring all pilgrims to be vaccinated against meningitis. The vaccine is known to pose health risks to fetuses.

Taufik said pregnant women were not prohibited from making the pilgrimage, but the compulsory vaccination made it impossible for them to enter Saudi Arabia.

"We are still looking for alternatives to help these women obtain permission to perform the pilgrimage, because they are not banned from taking part in the religious activity," he said during a break in a seminar here.

An expert staffer at the Office of the State Minister of the Empowerment of Women, Zaitunah Subchan, said there were no restrictions in the Koran or Hadits (Words of Prophet Muhammad) preventing pregnant women from performing the haj.

"But since the vaccination can affect the fetus, the ministry's prohibition can be absolute," she said as quoted by Antara.

She suggested the health ministry address the controversy because there was no law banning women from performing the pilgrimage.

The director general of contagious disease control and settlement environmental sanitation at the Ministry of Health, Umar Fahmi Achmadi, said prohibiting pregnant women from participating in the haj was aimed at reducing the mortality rate of pilgrims.

"Pregnant woman are classified in the high-risk group for death and illness," he said.

A member of the Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, Faturrahman Djamil, said prohibiting pregnant women from taking part in the pilgrimage was acceptable, because one of the prerequisites of the haj was being physically strong and healthy.

"A legitimate and perfect haj ritual is when all of the obligations and other things related to the haj service have been fulfilled," he said. (09)