Public cautioned over Haj pilgrimage scams
Published on: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Published on: Tue, Apr 29, 2025 Text Size: Dr Mohd Arifin presenting contributions to the participants at the event. Kota Kinabalu: The public is advised to consult Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) to avoid falling victims to fraudulent Haj pilgrim package scams. Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Datuk Mohd Arif, who is also the State Islamic and Education Affairs Exco, said TH has extensive expertise in managing Haj pilgrims and is always ready to assist the public in obtaining verified information. 'The public will be less likely to fall for fake Haj packages if they conduct early checks by referring to TH or other recognised agencies. 'TH is also always prepared to offer advice and guidance to help the public choose packages from reputable agencies,' he said. Dr Mohd Arifin told reporters after officiating a Premier Course on Performing Hajj for West Coast Zone at the University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Masjid, here, last Saturday. The two-day course, held from April 26 to 27, was attended by over 400 future pilgrims from Sabah's West Coast zone. He said the State Government supports TH's efforts in helping pilgrims make early preparations for the Hajj pilgrimage. 'Thank you to TH for organising this course, which is also being held in other districts to provide future pilgrims with sufficient knowledge before they depart for the Holy Land,' he said. He said that nearly 1,000 pilgrims from Sabah are expected to perform the Haj this year and expressed hope that the quota will continue to increase in the future. Additionally, Dr Mohd Arifin encouraged the public to open Tabung Haji accounts and to teach children to start saving early to simplify the Haj registration process later on. Also present were Assistant Minister of Religious Affairs Datuk Ruslan Muharam; Sabah State Mufti Datuk Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar; Sabah Director of the Sabah Islamic Development Department (Jakim) Datuk Norjeli Idris; Director of the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheains) Datuk Jumain Abdul Ghani; and Director of Tabung Haji for the Sabah and Sarawak region, Datuk Nurlaila Said. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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'The world sees the crowds. It misses the story'
EACH year, millions of Muslims from across the globe descend on Makkah for the haj pilgrimage. The visuals are familiar by now — vast crowds circling the Kaabah, white garments rippling through the desert heat, drone footage of a sea of humanity moving in harmony. But what's often missing from international coverage of this annual event is what lies beneath those images: the staggering human effort that makes it all work. Haj is one of the largest annual gatherings in the world and also one of the most logistically complex. Pilgrims from over 180 countries converge in a narrow window of time, many of them elderly and from fragile or conflict-torn regions. They come for a deeply spiritual purpose, but they arrive into a system that must accommodate millions safely, respectfully, and with dignity. Saudi Arabia has long taken on this responsibility, treating the management of the haj not as a seasonal obligation but as a sacred trust. Yet, despite the scale and precision of this effort, global media often treats it as a backdrop, rarely pausing to examine what it takes to actually make the pilgrimage possible. More than logistics Managing the haj is not just about crowd control or transport logistics, though both are crucial. It's about thousands of volunteers helping people find their way, doctors treating heat exhaustion in makeshift clinics, and public workers keeping the holiest sites clean in the middle of the night before the next wave of worshippers arrives. These are not minor details. They are the difference between hardship and hospitality. For many pilgrims, this is the most important journey of their lives. They arrive after years of saving, praying, and waiting—often with great personal sacrifice. Their experience is often one of safety and care and is not incidental. It results from deliberate, large-scale planning that often goes unnoticed outside the Islamic world. The human side of a global gathering There's an emotional dimension to the Hajj that rarely makes headlines. Pilgrims travel from war zones, refugee camps, and remote villages. They come in wheelchairs, with elderly parents, carrying the memory of loved ones who didn't live to make the journey. In a world that feels increasingly divided, the haj stands out as one of the few moments where humanity gathers not in opposition but in unity. That reality is easy to miss if reporting sticks to numbers, crowd scenes, or political analysis. What's lost is the story of people—their resilience, faith, and the unseen hands serving them. A different kind of story Saudi Arabia's role in facilitating the haj is not without complexity. No operation of this size is perfect, and there is always room for dialogue and improvement. But what's striking is how rarely international coverage acknowledges the depth of effort involved — or the spirit behind it. Too often, coverage focuses on the spectacle without looking at the system. It documents the rituals but not the relationships. It sees the scale but not the service. This isn't a call for praise or publicity. It's a call for perspective. For a recognition that haj isn't just a logistical feat—it's a human one. And in a time when division and cynicism dominate much of global discourse, the idea that millions can gather peacefully, purposefully, and be cared for with humility and generosity is a story worth telling. If we see only the crowd, we miss the humanity. Behind every pilgrim is a story — a journey of faith, of sacrifice, of hope fulfilled. And behind each of those journeys stands a vast, often invisible effort of care, coordination, and quiet service. To overlook that is to overlook not just the scale of what happens during haj, but the spirit that makes it possible. In a divided world, this annual gathering remains one of the few moments where humanity moves together — not in protest, not in fear, but in peace. That alone deserves a closer look.
