Saudi Gazette report The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawah, and Guidance has launched this year a program targeting leading Muslim figures all over the world. The program has so far hosted 500 Umrah pilgrims since the beginning of the Umrah season and intends to host another 500 more by the end of the year, Al-Riyadh daily reported. “We focus on well-known Islamic figures all around the world at colleges, institutes, Islamic centers, the media, etc, who are known to be staunch activists of Islam. We also bring over Muslims who have recently reverted to Islam,” said Abdullah Midlij, program's secretary general. This program is different from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque's Guests Program for Haj and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Program for Families of Palestinian Martyrs. The former has been running since 1996 and has hosted over 22,000 Muslims from all corners of the globe while the latter has brought over 12,000 Palestinian families, Al-Midlij explained. The new program selects the guests carefully and according to strict criteria and conditions. One of the criteria is the selected person should be a strong influencer in his community, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country. This figure can be working in a media outlet, a hospital, a company, etc. The ministry takes into consideration the percentage of Muslims in a certain country and the significance of the country and whether certain Muslim figures should be targeted by the program. Flexible programs The program seeks to cover all countries around the globe. In fact, the program schedule tends to be more flexible in the Umrah season than in the Haj, because there is not enough time during Haj to arrange for cultural and religious seminars and activities, Al-Midlij said. Guests will be given a chance to perform prayer at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, visit the grave of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the martyrs of Uhud Battle, in addition to archeological sites and important places. They will get a chance to meet one of the imams of the Two Holy Mosques as well as a member of the Board of Senior Scholars, Al-Midlij added. Coordination The ministry works with other pertinent government agencies to facilitate any difficulties facing the program. Once the persons have been selected, the ministry will contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ask it to expedite the process of visa issuance. The ministries of health, interior, culture and information as well as the Saudi Airlines and the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) will be sent letters requesting them to speed up the pertinent procedures for the guests.
