Brunei's Muslims Skip Hajj Pilgrimage this Year

Bandar Seri Begawan, MINA – Brunei on Wednesday (June, 10) announced that its citizens would not perform the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this year for health concerns amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a local media report.

Speaking in a press conference, Minister of Religious Affairs Awang Badaruddin Othman said the country would not send its 1,000 yearly selected pilgrims, thus quoted from Anadolu Agency.

Baddarudin said the decision was made after Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah gave his consent to the recommendation of the Brunei Islamic Religious Council, which convened last Saturday to cancel Bruneian pilgrims participation in the Hajj.

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“Regarding the participation of Hajj pilgrims, it is confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic still poses a global threat and that the spread of this virus is not likely to cease in the near future,” he said.

Last month, Singapore announced that its nationals would not perform the Hajj due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, the registration of 900 pilgrims who had signed up this year will be pushed forward to 2021. (T/RS2/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)