Saudi Gazette Haj is the most rewarding spiritual journey anyone can embark on. Its the fifth pillar of Islam and is obligatory for every Muslim, who is physically and financially capable, to perform Haj once in a lifetime. Pilgrims from all around the world, several of whom face hardships and obstacles, travel to Makkah for this enriching experience. One obstacle that pilgrims have recently started facing in undertaking the spiritual journey is the high fees of several organized Haj groups and camps, making it difficult for Muslims to afford performing Haj. “My wife and I had been dreaming of performing Hajj for years, but it was too expensive,” said Sayed Omar, an Egyptian truck driver in Jeddah. “We finally found a group that charged us SR2,200 each but we did not have enough savings. I had to sell my wife's gold bracelets so we could enroll in this Haj camp. I promised to make it up to her and buy her new gold bracelets in the future.” One luxurious Haj camp charged an alarming amount of SR12,500 per person last year. They provided all sorts of amenities such as 5-star hotel reservations in Makkah, air conditioned tents in Mina, 3 gourmet meals a day with snacks in between, and special educational sessions. The director of this extravagant Haj camp said, “We have noticeably reduced our fees this year by letting go of some of the unnecessary luxuries we offered our guests in the past. We have decreased the number of nights that pilgrims will be staying at hotels in Makkah and cancelled the purchase of exquisite desserts and expensive chocolates.” The director of another Haj camp, Muhammad Hadi, blames their high fees on the greed of some private companies that conduct Haj operations. “Every year I am compelled to raise my prices and now we are forced to charge SR9,400 per person due to the unreasonably high costs of renting rooms and tents, and reserving buses for transportation,” said Hadi. He added that renting just one large bus to transport pilgrims for five days of Hajj costs SR40,000. This year, Haj camps will take measures to reduce their prices in response to repeated complaints from the public and will try their best to make the spiritual journey cheaper. __
