All Indonesia Hajj Pilgrims Should Wear Batik

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Thousands of Indonesian hajj pilgrims left for Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning to perform the fifth pillar of Islam in the holy city of Mecca.

They were seen off by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang, Banten province, on Sunday morning.

On the occasion, the minister asked the would-be hajj pilgrims to focus on performing the hajj services to become "Mabrur Hajj" or the perfect hajj, main their good health condition and be efficient during their stay there. The would-be hajj pilgrims were also requested to maintain good discipline in carrying out he hajj services procession.

In addition, Suryadharma Ali said that the would-be pilgrims this year should better wear batiks, so that they can be easily spotted especially by the Indonesian hajj organizing personnel to enable them to give the best of services. Their departure to Saudi Arabia this year coincided with a call to Indonesians to wear batiks on October 2, following UNESCO’s recognition of Indonesian batiks.

Last Thursday, the culture and tourism affairs minister Jero Wacik said here, "Following UNESCO`s recognition, we should continue to maintain and preserve our traditional batik products."

In the meantime, hajj service director of the religious affairs ministry, Zainal Abidin Supi pointed out that the first batch of thousands of the would-be hajj pilgrims simultaneously departed from 11 embarkation airports across the country except at the Banjarmasin airport where the pilgrims will depart on Thursda.

In Palembang, South Sumatra governor H Alex Noerdin on Sunday saw off a total of 355 would-be hajj pilgrims from the province leaving for Medina, Saudi Arabia. The governor also asked the provincial would-be pilgrims to maintain their good health when performing the religious services in Saudi Arabia.

"The main purpose of performing the hajj pilgrimage is to improve faith and devotion (to God Almighty)," Alex Noerdin reminded the would-be pilgrims.

According to him, the provincial government gave financial assistance in the form of transportation fees worth one million rupiah to each of the would-be hajj pilgrims. Apart from that, the Hajj organizing committee of Boyolali district administration in Central Java for the first time presented Batik uniforms to all would-be hajj pilgrims.

According to him, the Central Java provincial administration will also donate some money to each of the would be pilgrims before leaving for the Saudi Arabia. He gave no details about the amount of money that will be given to each of the hajj pilgrims.

As a comparison, however, last year’s financial donation for every hajj pilgrim from the provincial government amounted to Rp600 thousand. On Sunday, Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo also saw off as many as 375 would-be pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

This year the Saudi government complied the Indonesia request for additional 10,000 hajj quota so that the total number of Indonesian would-be hajj pilgrims became 221,000 people. Around 80 percent of 230 million Indonesians are Muslims.

The increase in the number of Indonesia`s hajj pilgrimage quota was disclosed by Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta airport from Saudi Arabia here recently. The minister said that about 7,000 of the additional quota would be given to regular hajj services so that the number of would-be regular hajj pilgrims increased to 201,000.

"Some 3,000 of the additional quota will be given to those who are going to perform the hajj under a special hajj pilgrimage program," the minister added.

In the meantime, this year’s hajj travel cost amounted to Rp30,771,000 per person. Aside from that, the Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia had provided as many as 14 wide-bodied aircraft to transport the would-be pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, head of the company’s communications division Pujobroto said in Jakarta last Monday.

Meanwhile, Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf in Banda Aceh on Sunday also asked all the provincial would-be hajj pilgrims to pray in Mecca and Medina, hoping that Aceh would be secure and peaceful.

"I hope all Aceh’s would-be pilgrims can pray in Mecca and Medina for peace in Aceh," the governor said in his statement which was read out by T. Setia Budi, secretary of Aceh provincial administration during the departure ceremony at Aceh Sultan Iskandar Muda airport on Sunday.

As many as 576 people out of 1,122 additional quota to the would-be hajj pilgrims from Aceh are elderly people, 79 to 111 years old.

"It is a priority to facilitate the departure of the elderly to the holy land," head of Aceh provincial religious affairs office, Juniazi said, adding that two of the oldest would-be pilgrims are now 111 years old.

The two oldest ones are Nurhadisah (female) hailing from Gampong (village) Seunaloh, Aceh Barat Daya district and Kamil Hadi bin Abdullah Abubakar (male) from Gampong Mesjid Gigeng, Pidie district.