Hoping for ‘Mabrur’ Haj

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Members of PT Garuda Indonesia’s board of directors wave as a haj flight takes off in the early morning of Sunday (7/7/2019) to Saudi Arabia from Adi Soemarmo International Airport in Boyolali, Central Java. The inaugural haj flight of the Surakarta program carried 358 Muslim passengers from Sukoharjo regency, with the program scheduled to send 34,940 Muslims from Central Java and Yogyakarta to Medina on the haj pilgrimage.

A number of haj pilgrims have landed in Saudi Arabia and await the ritual of haj. Achieving and becoming a mabrur Haj (a blessed haj) is the dream of the entire congregation.

No less than 231,000 Indonesians will depart for haj this year, including the additional quota of 10,000 that President Joko Widodo received last April. Based on the records of the Haj Financial Management Agency (BPKH), up to May 2019, the number of prospective pilgrims who are now waiting for departure is 4,341,969 people. If the quota does not increase, the pilgrims must wait around 20 years for haj.