Illegal Hajj Pilgrims Contributes to Large Death Toll; Countries Take Actions Against Tour Companies and Pilgrims

 According to CNN, Saudi Arabia says that 1301 people died while on the recently-completed Hajj where temperatures soared as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 83% of those who died were on unauthorized trips that generally lacked air-conditioned busses and easy access to air-conditioned tents, food and water. According to BBC, nationals of Egypt, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Jordan, Iran, Senegal, Sudan, Kurdistan and the United States were among the dead. The largest death toll seems to have been among Egyptians. Egypt announced today that it will revoke the licenses of 16 tourism companies who were involved in making illegal trip arrangements. According to VisaGuide, earlier this month Saudi Arabia announced that it would impose fines on citizens, expatriates and visitors who are caught in the area of the Hajj without a Hajj permit. Anyone caught transporting visitors who do not have Hajj permits will also be subject to fines and up to six months in prison. BBC says that mismanagement by Saudi authorities also contributed to the death toll.

Bidens Send Eid Greetings

Today is Eid al-Adha. Yesterday President and Mrs. Biden issued a statement (full text) sending greetings to those celebrating the holiday. The statement reads in part:

The Hajj, which convenes people from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe, is also a reminder of Islam’s commitment to equality and the shared roots of the world’s Abrahamic faiths. The United States is committed to working with the international community to emerge stronger from the pandemic, and thousands of Muslim Americans are among those eager to perform the pilgrimage next year, God willing.

Hajj Begins Tomorrow-- Scaled Down In Response To Pandemic

The Hajj begins tomorrow in Saudi Arabia, in a scaled down fashion because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  AP and Andoula Agency both report on the event which will be limited to between 1,000 and 10,000 participants who are already living in Saudi Arabia. Normally the Hajj attracts 2.5 million pilgrims. According to AP:

This year, pilgrims must wear face masks and will only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well in Mecca that has been pre-packaged in plastic bottles. Pebbles for casting away evil that are usually picked up by pilgrims along hajj routes will be sterilized and bagged before being distributed to pilgrims.

Pilgrims are also bringing their own prayer rugs and will be required to pray at a distance from one another, rather than packed shoulder to shoulder.

Saudi Arabia Limits Hajj To Residents To Limit COVID Spread

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Monday that because of COVID-19 the Hajj this year will be extremely limited, saying in part:

in light of the continuation of the pandemic and the risks of Coronavirus spreading in crowded spaces and large gatherings, and its transmission between countries,  and the increase in average infections globally, it has been decided that Hajj for this year (1441 H/ 2020 AD) will be held whereby a very limited number of pilgrims from various nationalities who already reside in Saudi Arabia, would be able to perform it.  This decision is taken to insure Hajj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective while observing all preventative measures and the necessary social distancing protocols....

Hajj Is Underway In Saudi Arabia

As reported by Time, in Saudi Arabia yesterday (Friday, Aug. 9) more than 2 million Muslims gathered at Mecca to begin the Hajj. The Conversation has a detailed explanation of each of the five days' rituals.

Pakistan Court Upholds Reduction In Private Operators' Hajj Quotas

Again this year in Pakistan, Hajj quotas have become the subject of litigation.  In Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan v. Federation of Pakistan, (High Ct. Sindh, June 16, 2017), the High Court of Sindh at Karachi rejected a challenge to the reduction in the quota of Private Hajj Sector organizers from 50% to 40% of Pakistan‟s allocated quota.  The change was made so that an increased number of government sponsored lower-cost Hajj trips could be provided. The court said in part:

The plaintiffs have no justification to snatch lawful right of common people to perform Hajj at economical Hajj package as compared to expensive Hajj packages introduced and announced by the plaintiffs.

Express Tribune reports on the court's decision.

7th Circuit Upholds Enhanced Sentence For Hajj Fraud Defendant

In United States v. Minhas, (7th Cir., March 10, 2017), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 114 month prison sentence imposed on a travel agent convicted in two separate cases of wire and mail fraud. One of the cases involved selling 54 customers purported Hajj travel packages when defendant was unable to provide the necessary visas for travel to Saudi Arabia.  The district court imposed sentence enhancement under the Sentencing Guidelines because the offense resulted in substantial financial hardship to the victims.  The appeals court upheld the district court's consideration of victims as a group rather than individually in making this determination.  The court added:

It is also worth noting that the district court understood that, at least in the Lightstar Hajj case, the harm was not just the loss of money, but was also a spiritual injury inflicted when it became impossible for the victim to make the hajj.... While being deprived of this opportunity (for a year at the very least) may not constitute a financial loss in the traditional sense of losing dollars from a bank account, it is a significant alteration in life circumstances, as are many of the factors pertinent to interpreting “substantial financial hardship”....

Pakistan Supreme Court Takes Action Against Fraudulent Hajj Tour Operators

In Hussain v. State, (Pakistan Sup. Ct., Feb. 27, 2017), the Supreme Court of Pakistan denied bail to defendants charged with defrauding a large number of Muslims seeking to perform Hajj by creating a fake travel agency that absconded with their travel funds. The Court explained:

This nature of frauds have become so common that, every year, before the Hajj Season commences, innocent and rustic peoples are looted by various so called agencies including the unauthorized tour operators, of which judicial notice is required to be taken to curb the increasing menace of frauds practiced in religious and pious matters, therefore, Courts are required to treat these cases differently and such frauds must be brought to halt.

The Court strongly criticized government agencies for failing to enforce the law and "allow[ing] the fraudsters to commit such crimes with impunity." In an attempt to prevent such frauds in the future, the Court ordered the Ministry of Religious Affairs

to update its website in English, Urdu and all local languages, conveniently readable and understandable by the illiterate poor people, showing all the details about the duly approved Hajj & Umrah Tour Operators, warning the public at large that except those mentioned on the website, no other agency or Tour & Hajj Operator is authorized to make booking or collect money for sending people to perform Hajj or Umrah. At the same time, the said Ministry shall give wide publicity to such lists through electronic and print media and also through handbills/notifications in different languages....

The Court also ordered further disclosures to travelers and indemnity bonds by authorized Hajj tour operators.  Today's Express Tribune reports on the decision.

Pakistani Court Sentences Last of Hajj Corruption Defendants

In Pakistan yesterday, a special court sentenced the last of 4 defendants in the 2010 Hajj corruption case to 30 years in prison and a fine equivalent to $386,000(US).  AAJ-TV reports that defendant Ahmad Faiz was charged with being the front man for the Religious Affairs Director General.  Defendants were charged with massive corruption in the arrangements for Pakistani Hajj pilgrims. (See prior posting.)  Last year, 3 other defendants in the case were sentenced. The former federal minister for religious affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi and the additional secretary Aftab Ahmed were sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Director General for Hajj Affairs Rao Shakeel was sentenced to 40 years. (Express Tribune, June 3, 2016).

Iran's Supreme Leader Questions Saudi Control of Hajj

According to today's Jerusalem Post, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has questioned Saudi Arabia's continued control of the hajj  pilgrimage.  Last year over 2000 pilgrims, many of them Iranians, died in a crush of crowds outside Mecca. (See prior posting.) Iran is a regional rival of Saudi Arabia, and this year talks on arrangement for Iranians to make the hajj broke down.  No Iranians will attend this year. (See prior posting.)  A message on Khamenei's website reads:

Because of these (Saudi) rulers' oppressive behavior towards God's guests (pilgrims), the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and the issue of haj.

The hajj is projected to begin on September 9.

Iran Will Boycott This Year's Hajj

Reflecting continuing tension between the two countries, on Sunday Iran announced that it will not allow its citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia in September for the Hajj.  According to the New York Times, Iran blamed Saudi Arabia for lack of cooperation, while the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said an Iranian delegation refused to sign an agreement to resolve outstanding issues. The two countries had been at odds over transportation, security and procedures for issuing visas. (See prior posting.) Press TV quoted remarks by Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati:

Given the way Saudi authorities treated Iranian delegates and talked to them during two rounds of negotiations as well as in view of their sabotage and obstacles they created, unfortunately Iranian pilgrims cannot go to Hajj this year.

Hundreds of Iranian pilgrims were killed in a stampede during last year's Hajj. (See prior posting.)

Saudis, Iran At Odds Over Hajj Arrangements This Year

AlJazeera reported yesterday that Iranian Muslims may miss out on the Hajj this September because Iran and Saudi Arabia have been unable to agree on organizational details.  The two countries are at odds over transportation, security and procedures for issuing of visas this year. Last year 464 Iranians were among the 2000 pilgrims killed in a stampede during the Hajj.  Iran insists that the Saudis issue visas inside Iran through the Swiss embassy (the two countries have severed relations), while the Saudis say Iranians should use an online system. Also Iran wants to split pilgrims between Saudi and Iranian airlines.

Bangladesh Arrests Facebook Critic of Hajj Deaths On Charges Of Insulting Islam

Last week, the free speech advocacy group Article 19 called attention to the September 26 arrest in Bangladesh of Mohon Kumar Mondal, the leader of a Bangladeshi environmental organization, on charges of offending religious sentiments of Muslims.  After the death of hundreds in a crush and resulting stampede during the Hajj (see prior posting), Mohon published a Facebook posting criticizing Saudi Arabia's security arrangements at Mina, Saudi negligence in dumping dead bodies from the stampede, and questioning the rationality of the Hajj ritual of stoning the devil at Mina. Police arrested Mohon after a local political leader filed charges against him under Section 57 of the Information Communication and Technology Act.  That section prohibits the deliberate publication or transmission online of material which hurts or is likely to hurt religious sentiments.  Article 19 called for Mohon's release.

Death Count From Hajj Stampede Now Believed To Be Over 2,100

AP reported yesterday that its research shows the death toll from the Sept. 24 crush of mobs outside Mecca during this year's Hajj (see prior posting) has now risen to at least 2,121.  The data comes from comments by officials from some 30 of the countries that sent pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.  The largest number of those killed were from Iran which says it had 465 fatalities. Iran has blamed the deaths on the Saudi royal family.

Iran Says It Will Sue Saudis Over Hajj Deaths

According to the Straits Times, Iran's Attorney-General Ibrahim Raeesi yesterday said that his country will file a lawsuit in international legal bodies against Saudi Arabia over the death of at least 769 people in a stampede during the  Hajj pilgrimage last week. (See prior posting.)  Some 130 of the dead were pilgrims from Iran, and another 340 Iranian nationals remain missing. Iran says Saudi authorities had inadequate safety measures at the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual.  The Saudi's say the stampede was beyond human control.

Over 700 Killed In Hajj Crush of Pilgrims

Reuters reports that at least 717 Hajj pilgrims were killed and 805 others injured in a stampede outside Mecca today.  The crush occurred when two large groups of pilgrims arrived at the same time at a crossroads on the way to performing the "stoning the devil" ceremony at Jamarat. 4,000 rescue workers have been sent to the location of the accident.

Crane Collapse Kills 107 At Mecca's Grand Mosque As Hajj Approaches

According to CNN, yesterday in Mecca, ten days before the beginning of the Hajj, a powerful storm caused a construction crane to collapse through the roof of the Grand Mosque, killing 107 and injuring 238 others. The Mosque surrounds the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam.  The Mosque is being expanded to better handle the large number of visitors that make the Hajj pilgrimage each year.

US and Saudis Furnish Hajj Travel Information To Americans

The Hajj will take place this year approximately from Sept. 21 - 26. The U.S. State Department has posted a Hajj Fact Sheet on its website.  It reviews health, travel and safety considerations for U.S. citizens planning a trip to Saudi Arabia for the event. The Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C. has also posted a webpage titled Hajj Requirements, focusing on visas, travel and guidelines.

Chicago Travel Agent Charged With Mail Fraud In Hajj Visa Misrepresentations

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois yesterday announced the arrest on mail fraud charges of Chicago travel agent Rashid Minhas.  A criminal complaint charges that Minhas sold Hajj travel packages to some 50 customers for a total of $525,000, falsely representing to them that the package contained the required visa to enter Saudi Arabia. It is alleged that Minhas knew that his company, Light Star Hajj, was not authorized by Saudi Arabia to obtain visas.

Bangladeshi Cabinet Minister Fired Over Anti-Hajj Remarks

In Bangladesh last week, the ruling Awami League party dismissed Post and Telecommunication Minister Abdul Latif Siddique from the cabinet after he made unusually critical remarks about the tradition of the hajj. Yesterday's International Policy Digest reports that while in New York, exchanging views with expatriates, Siddique said:

I am dead against hajj. Hajj costs a substantial amount of manpower. About two million people are now in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. These people have no work, no production. [They are] only causing reduction [in wealth]. [They are] only having meals [inside the country] and spending money [abroad].

Siddique's remarks led to 19 court cases being quickly filed against him for hurting religious sentiment.