Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims Get Official Certificates from the Ministry of Religion

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Pilgrims starting this year will receive an official Hajj certificate from the Ministry of Religion.

The Director of Hajj and Umrah Development at the Ministry of Religion, Arsad Hidayat, said that this certificate was given to pilgrims who had made their own pilgrimage or had it replaced.

“We have issued a circular letter from the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah Organizers to all provincial Offices, to convey to each Head of the Ministry of Religion Regency/City to print a certificate based on the domicile of the congregation,” said Arsad in a statement as quoted from an online news site, Republika on Monday.

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Arsad guaranteed that the process of taking the certificate would not be a hassle for the congregation. For example, if the congregation comes from Bekasi Regency, then they don’t need to go to the provincial Regional Office in Bandung.

“Like the case in Banjarnegara Regency, Central Java, there is no need to go to Semarang, because it can be recorded directly in the respective Regency/City,” he continued.

This Hajj certification service is one of the Ministry of Religion’s latest innovations. In previous years, the hajj certificate was issued by Garuda airline, not by the government.

“As far as we know this is the first time. In the previous period there was this certificate but it was issued by Garuda airline not by the government, in this case the Ministry of Religion,” said Arsad.

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For now, the process of returning the first wave of pilgrims from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA). As of Sunday, 213 groups of pilgrims who had landed in Indonesia flew (kloter), with a total of 80,713 pilgrims.

Arsad said that his party continues to encourage the repatriation of pilgrims through Jeddah Airport. The return schedule via Jeddah Airport will end tomorrow, July 18, 2023.

Furthermore, the first batch of pilgrims returning home will soon begin. This process was carried out through Amir Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz Madinah Airport (AMAA) on the same day, Tuesday 18 July.

“Later, on that date, the officers will be divided into two. Some will go to Medina first to serve the return of the second batch, and the other will stand by in Jeddah to be tasked with returning the last batch of one group,” he said. (T/RE1/P2)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)