Vice President Faisal Naseem has departed for Makkah, Saudi Arabia, to perform the Hajj pilgrimage as the Head of the Maldives Hajj Mission. He was appointed to the role by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to ensure the smooth organisation and management of the pilgrimage, as well as the welfare and safety of the pilgrims.
The Maldives received 1,000 quotas for Hajj this year. Two-thirds of the quota has been given to the Maldives Hajj Corporation Limited (MHCL). The rest of the quota has been divided among three companies. The corporation will be tasked with facilitating the travel of half of the Maldivian Hajj pilgrims this year while the other half of the quota will be distributed to three other companies. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs decided that the chosen companies will receive 90 slots each in order to facilitate easy and convenient travel for pilgrims.
Hajj will begin on June 26 and it is expected that about 2.6 million Muslims will come together to perform the pilgrimage for the first time since COVID-19.