We ask your (all pilgrims’) cooperation to accompany and look after each other, thus elderly pilgrims can also implement their worship solemnly.
Indramayu, W Java (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi has urged hajj pilgrims departing from the Indramayu Hajj Dormitory in West Java Province to look after each other, and stay healthy while performing this annual ritual in Saudi Arabia.

"This year's hajj pilgrimage season is performed in summer. Thus the temperature in the Holy Land is around 40 degrees Celsius. Hence, pay attention to your own health, diet, and rest time,” he remarked here on Sunday.

In his remarks while dispatching the pilgrims, he asked the pilgrims to take care of their health during their stays in Saudi Arabia by considering the fact that performing the hajj needs physical endurance.

Furthermore, the pilgrims must also maintain their diet well to enable them.to conduct all the pilgrimage rituals properly, the deputy minister added.

"Having a good rest is also important. Do not spend your energy on less useful activities. It is better to use it for praying," he emphasized.

He also asked the pilgrims to take care of each other owing to the fact that many elderly pilgrims need help from everyone.

Sa'adi noted that many elderly hajj pilgrims are not accompanied by their relatives. In one flight group with a yotal.of 300 pilgrims, there are also only eight officers.

"We ask your (all pilgrims’) cooperation to accompany and look after each other. By doing so,the elderly pilgrims can also perform their worship solemnly," he stated.

The Religious Affairs Ministry noted that some 67 thousand out of the 210 thousand Indonesian pilgrims this year are elderly.

Hence, the Health Ministry deploys Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), comprising 15 medical specialists in anesthesia, internal medicine, surgery, neurology, and cardiology.

Furthermore, 12 general practitioners, 43 nurses, and an emergency room are also provided to serve the pilgrims.

The first batch of the Hajj pilgrimage flight groups will depart for Saudi Arabia from May 24 to June 7, 2023. Meanwhile, the second batch of the flight groups will depart from June 8 to June 21.

The first batch of the flight groups will return to Indonesia from July 4 to July 18, and the second one will return from July 19 to August 2.

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Translator: Khaerul Izan, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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