How a Surprise Saudi Decision Frustrated UK Muslims?

While looking to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this year, British Muslims fear losing thousands of pounds after the Saudi government imposed online bookings for those wishing to perform the pilgrimage.

The authorities informed the pilgrims to register for Hajj through a lottery system called Mutawwif.

Hundreds of Muslims in Britain who have already paid for travel through the chosen system say their bookings “failed” and they missed flights.

The recently announced booking system for Saudi Hajj provoked Muslims’ anger.

 

‘A Nightmare’

Until a couple of weeks, things were looking reassuring for British Muslims preparing to visit Saudi Arabia for Hajj. Preparations for the annual pilgrimage, taking place between 7 to12 July 2022, “were smoothly gathering pace,” MME reported.

However, everything went upside down for Muslims in the UK. After booking travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, hundreds of Muslims in Britain have expressed anger and frustration at being trapped in the UK despite paying “thousands of pounds for flights and hotels through a flawed Saudi government-backed system.”

Muslims in the UK were shocked after the ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia announced that “pilgrims from Europe, the US, and Australia could no longer book Hajj packages through travel agencies and would instead have to apply through a lottery system called Mutawwif,” The Guardian said.

This new system has deprived hundreds of British and non-British Muslims from performing a momentous religious pilgrimage despite paying for flights and hotels.

Though giving the green light for Hajj tour operators to sell the Hajj packages to Muslims across the UK, no booking was accepted except through the Mutawwif lottery system.

“Just 14 to 15 days ago we had the utmost belief that we would be going,” Habibur Rahman, a London-based Hajj tour organizer, tells Middle East Eye. “That's the feedback we were getting on the ground in Saudi Arabia.”

Before the emergence of the Pandemic, more than 25,000 Muslims living in the UK were allocated to go to Hajj each year.

 

Anger at Saudi authorities

Like thousands of Muslims, Layla Begum Ali, who lives in London, was looking forward to making the pilgrimage this year; she checked several UK-based Hajj operators before paying thousands of pounds in a deposit in April, before the announcement of the new procedures for foreigners.

“I was hopeful and excited and wanted to do everything I could to secure my spot,” Ms. Ali tells The National.

Ms. Ali has already performed the Umrah and this year, it would be her first Hajj and she was planning to go on pilgrimage with her brother.

“We waited for information, and nothing came for a while until we heard about the new online portal, and then suddenly things became difficult and a bit intense,” she said.

Muneeb Sidyot, from Leicester, had successfully booked this year through Mutawwif, after three years of waiting for Hajj; he booked in 2020 but his travel was deferred due to Coronavirus.

Mr. Sidyot was soon informed by email that his “payment was successful, but the booking has failed.”

A few days later, he was notified by another email saying his “booking will be honored” and his flights were reserved.

Because Sidyot did not trust Mutawwif's assurances, he contacted his airline carrier, just 48 hours before his flight, only to be informed that he and his wife were not on the flight list because of Mutawwif’s overbooking.

“Why did Mutawwif take my money, if a package was potentially sold out?” he said.

“We don’t want to lose a single penny, because we’ve not received any service at all apart from distress, and our time being wasted trying to get in touch with agents.”

 

Cutting out Middleman

The reason why Saudi authorities made a sudden decision to change the Hajj system was not clear yet.

The country may start direct contact with the consumer for the Hajj experience in the hope of “cutting out the middleman” in future years.

Sean McLoughlin, a professor of the anthropology of Islam at Leeds University, tells MEE that “this experiment in business-to-consumer marketing and selling hasn’t put its pilgrim-consumers at the center of thinking despite the rhetoric. Credibility and trust cannot be taken for granted.”

McLoughlin is the author of Mapping the UK's Hajj Industry, and he was the first to produce a report on Britain's Muslim pilgrimage industry.

“IT systems and on-the-ground service providers will need to comprehend Muslim pilgrim-consumers in all of their local and global diversity. The problems witnessed thus far suggest that there is a need for a shift in this regard,” he added.

Muslims in Britain hope the new lottery system could pave the way for a cheaper trip to Hajj.

Faiyaz, a business analyst from Cheshire, also tells MEE that: “the prices on the portal look great. We’re talking three thousand pounds cheaper than what the tour operators were charging,”

The business analyst who is still waiting to get his lottery application’s result said that it is true that the procedure changes were “a bit last minute and unfair on tour agencies” but it could have positive impacts for future consumers in the long run.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and it is an obligation for every Muslim who is able to afford the charge.

The trip costs between £6000 to more than £10,000, and many Muslims spend years saving this amount in order to perform the momentous religious pilgrimage.