Cape Town - The South African Hajj Quota for 2017 has seen a reinstatement of the 20% that was reduced in 1433H, the South Atfrican Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) says.
"We hereby inform the Muslim Community of South Africa, that in its meeting with the Ministry of Hajj today, 22nd January 2017, that it has officially been notified of the 20 % re-instatement of the Quota
"We are pleased to advise that the official quota for Hajj 1438, is 2 500. During our deliberations, the SAHUC Protocol team further requested for an increase in the quota in excess of the 2 500.
Further increase in quota on the cards
It says the Ministry advised that they will consider the request going forward.
Added to this Hassan Choonara, Secretary General for SAHUC says the council is continuously striving to serve the interest of the community better, "guided by the policies of the Ministry of Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".

India’s quota for the Haj this year has been fixed at 136,020 pilgrims, according to an agreement signed with Saudi Arabia.
A total of 100,020 pilgrims will come through the Haj Committee of India and the remainder through private tour operators.
The agreement on the Haj quota was signed during a high-level Indian delegation’s visit to Jeddah on Thursday, Arab News reported on Friday.
Saudi Arabia has reduced the Haj quota for all countries by 20% and for Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council pilgrims by 50% because of the ongoing expansion of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
The Indian delegation was led by minister of state for external affairs Gen VK Singh and included ambassador Ahmad Javed, consul general BS Mubarak, joint secretary Rakesh Mohan of the minority affairs ministry and Haj Committee chief executive officer Ataur Rahman.

New Delhi: In the biggest hike in nearly three decades, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday increased India's annual Haj quota by 34,500, a move welcomed by the NDA government as a "matter of pleasure".
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Saudi Arabia's Haj and Umrah Minister Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten inked an agreement in this regard in Jeddah today, increasing the size of India's Haj quota from 1,36,020 to 1,70,520.
Representational image. AP
According to a statement issued by Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Naqvi, it is the "biggest increase" in quota for Haj pilgrims after 1988.
The latest increase in quota will be effective from the current year. The Saudi authorities had five years ago slashed quotas for foreign pilgrims coming from each country by 20 per cent in view of safety of the devotees as they undertook expansion of Grand Mosque there.

TUBAN, Indonesia
Indonesia announced Thursday that Saudi Arabia has met Jakarta’s request for an increased Hajj quota for citizens of the world’s most populous Muslim country.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Indonesia’s quota for the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia has been increased by 52,200 to 221,000 pilgrims this year.
She added that Jakarta would therefore no longer ask other countries for their unused quotas as it had done in 2016, when 177 Indonesians were arrested at Manila airport carrying Philippine Hajj passports believed to have been acquired fraudulently for $6,000-$10,000.
"There will be no quotas requested from other countries. Since the [additional quota] increases quite a lot," Marsudi was quoted by metrotvnews.com as saying at the presidential palace.
As the recipient of the largest Hajj quota, Indonesia -- which has a population of around 256 million -- sends around 200,000 pilgrims to Mecca and Medina every year.

TUBAN, Indonesia
Indonesia’s president announced Monday that Saudi Arabia has agreed to increase its Hajj quota for pilgrims from the world’s most populous Muslim country after it was revealed that hundreds of Indonesians resort to using Philippine documents.
Joko Widodo said in a press release that he reached the agreement during a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud on the sidelines of a G20 summit in China earlier this month.
"I spoke with Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia in Hangzhou, that Indonesia requests additional Hajj quota, and he has agreed for it to be increased," he said, adding that Prince Salman is due to visit Indonesia in the near future to further discuss the issue.
Widodo also revealed that the Philippines, Singapore and Japan had agreed to transfer their unused Hajj quotas to Indonesia.

KUALA LUMPUR: The additional haj quota approved by the Saudi Arabia's government has cut the waiting time for pilgrims who are on Tabung Haji's waiting list by up to 13 years.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom (pic)told the Dewan Rakyat that the waiting time has been shortened from 102 to 89 years for some 2.5 million Tabung Haji depositors who are waiting to perform their haj pilgrimage.
"The visit by Saudi Arabia's King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud to Malaysia recently had bring good news to our pilgrims who had waited for a long time.
"With the additional quota, the waiting period has been shorted by 13 years for which we are grateful," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Baru) during Question Time on Monday.
Takiyuddin had sought the government's assurance over whether depositors will continue to enjoy the benefit provided by Tabung Haji in the future.

Riyadh rejects requests by 40 countries to increase their Haj quota this year because of development projects now under way in Mecca and Medina.

RIYADH // Saudi Arabia has rejected requests by 40 countries to increase their Haj quota this year because of development projects now under way in Mecca and Medina.
"The ministry has apologised to all countries which had asked to increase the number of their pilgrims this year ... [because of] the giant development projects in Mecca and Medina which make it difficult to accommodate more numbers," Bandar Al Hajjar, the Haj minister, was reported as saying.
Every Muslim country has a Haj quota of 1,000 pilgrims per million inhabitants.
The quota system was imposed after an attempt by Saudi police to stifle a demonstration by Iranian pilgrims holding an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in 1987 sparked clashes in which 402 people died, including 275 Iranians.

NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia has increased India's annual Haj quota from 1.36 lakh to 1.70 lakh, biggest such expansion in last 29 years, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Wednesday.

An agreement to this regard was inked by minister of state for minority affairs (independent charge) Naqvi with Saudi Arabia's haj and umrah minister Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten at Jeddah on Weddnesday, making the expansion effective from the current year.

The Saudi authorities had five years ago slashed quotas for foreign pilgrims coming from each country by 20 per cent in view of safety of the devotees as they undertook expansion of Grand Mosque there.

Accordingly, India's quota was brought down to 1.36 lakh from nearly 1.70 lakh in 2012.

The Religious Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday that the government would welcome an expanded haj quota to end waits for the pilgrimage that last up to 39 years.
“The haj quota is the domain of Saudi Arabian government. Alhamdulillah (thank God), if it is willing to provide a bigger quota to us,” Ahda Barori, the ministry’s director of the haj domestic service, told The Jakarta Post.
Ahda made the statement following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's request to Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman during a bilateral meeting in Hangzhou, China, to consider the possibility of Indonesia getting the unused portions of haj quotas from other countries or obtaining a larger haj quota.
The ministry's attempt to persuade the Saudi government to increase its haj quota was also a response to the arrest of 177 Indonesians in Manila for trying to use places left empty in the Philippine’s underused quota.

Indonesia’s haj quota has returned to the normal figure of 221,000 a year plus an additional 10,000 after the quota was cut by 20 percent in 2013 due to the renovation of the al-Haram Mosque in Saudi Arabia.
"We thank the Saudi Arabian government for the additional quota," President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He added that King Salman of Saudi Arabia would like to visit Indonesia in March. This visit is a reply to Jokowi’s visit in September 2016.
During his visit, Jokowi lobbied King Salman for an increase to the haj quota. On Jan. 4, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim went to Saudi Arabia to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) related to the new haj quota. (dan)

After years of reducing Hajj visa numbers due to construction in Makkah, Saudi Arabia is now reportedly planning to increase quotas in the coming years.
According to Arab News, King Salman has approved a proposal to increase the number of pilgrims from inside and outside of Saudi Arabia during this year’s Hajj.
The move to restore quotas comes after years of construction work in the holy city winds down.

It will likely come as good news for people around the world who have been frustrated with a scarcity of Hajj visas, including in Doha.
Last year, some 18,400 people in Qatar applied for 1,200 spots. Of those, 900 were reserved for nationals.
10-year low
The pilgrimage, which a Muslim is required to perform at least once in his or her lifetime, will take place at the end of August and beginning of September.
According to Arab News, the number of pilgrims hit a 10-year low in 2016, at 1.86 million. In 2007, it was reportedly at 2.4 million.

Our Umrah packages are available to our clients throughout the Umrah season, including the month of Ramadhan. Our services include airline reservation, hotel reservation, visa processing with the Saudi Consulate, meet and assist in Saudi Arabia, ground transportation in Saudi Arabia and tours to religious and historical sites in Makkah and Madinah. Our Umrah packages range from the economical to the most comfortable. Besides the published Umrah packages, we provide customized package for individuals and families as well as private groups and organizations. Umrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca located in Saudi Arabia. Muslims can perform Umrah at any time in the year apart from 9th and 13th of Dul Hajj. In Umrah the pilgrim performs a number of acts. By these acts the pilgrims also show companionship with Muslims around the world.We have designed our Umrah packages very carefully so that it can be comfortable and a memorable spiritual journey as a whole for you.
Umrah Packages

The Hajj and Umrah are religious pilgrimages to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Islamic religious doctrine dictates that every able-bodied adult Muslim who can afford to do so is required to make Hajj at least once in his or her lifetime. Hajj takes place from the 8th through the 12th day of Dhul Hijah, the last month of the Islamic year. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, the timing of Hajj varies with respect to the Gregorian calendar, occurring about 11 days earlier the following year (for example, it was held September 22–27 in 2015 and September 10–14 in 2016). Umrah is called the “minor pilgrimage,” can be completed at any time of the year, and is not compulsory.

The Consular Section of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC has the honor to inform all Pilgrims that all Hajj visas are granted gratis. Hajj visas are not valid for work or residency.
Hajj visas will not be issued to individuals who have performed Hajj in the last five years.
You can also find additional information in the Guide to Hajj (in 8 languages)

Each applicant for a Hajj visa must apply through a licensed U.S. travel agency, which must present the Consulate with copies of “Accommodation Contacts” and a letter from the Ministry of Hajj in Saudi Arabia confirming that the travel agency has duly completed all requirements to qualify to assist pilgrims.

The Islamic lunar calendar (also referred to as Hijri calendar) is a purely lunar calendar. It contains 12 months that are based on the phases of the moon. Each lunar month is approximately 29.53 solar days. Therefore, the Islamic calendar is shorter than the Gregorian calendar. 12 lunar months is about 12 x 29.53=354.36 days (10 to 11 days shorter than the solar calendar). This why you may have noticed that the month of Ramadan and the time of Hajj gets earlier each year.
Names of Months
The 12 months of the calendar are:
1. Muharram
2. Safar
3. Rabi' al-awwal (Rabi' I)
4. Rabi' al-thani (Rabi' II)
5. Jumada al-awwal (Jumada I)
6. Jumada al-thani (Jumada II)
7. Rajab
8. Sha'ban
9. Ramadan
10. Shawwal
11. Dhu al-Qi'dah
12. Dhu al-Hijjah
These months have been in existence since before the time of the Quran.
History