Head of Iranian Pilgrims: Conditions of This Year's Hajj Were Unprecedented in History

According to Hajj Information Base, Hojjat ​​al-Islam Seyed Abdolfattah Navvab made the remarks addressing the ceremony of "Tawasi Be Haq" in the group of worshipers of the delegation of the Supreme Leader and the organization of Hajj and Pilgrimage in Tehran.

He said Iran honored the memory of Ayatollah Martyr Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, the president and Martyr Dr. Hossein Amirabdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and added: "These two honorable personalities put a lot of effort and investment into holding this year's Hajj, and they were rewarded with martyrdom in the way of God."

Pointing out that this year's Hajj conditions were unprecedented and different, he noted, "We believe that the one who really manages the Hajj is the guidance of the Imam of the Age (peace be upon him) and we provide divine favors to the servants in the places of the Hajj programs."

He explained that during the history of Hajj, the weather was not as hot as this year and it was around or over 50 degrees Celsius during the days of Tashriq, and in addition, there was no record in the history of Hajj that 1300 people died in one day just because of the heat, but this year this happened in such a way that according to reports, 600 of the dead were from Egypt.

The head of Iranian pilgrims added that the number of Iranian dead on the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah was only six.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab noted that the number of deaths of Iranian pilgrims during Hajj was 63 percent less compared to last year, which indicates a significant decrease.

The head of Iranian Pilgrims said that another feature of this year's Hajj is the reduction of the share of servants to nearly 5% of all pilgrims, and stated that before the revolution, the share of servants compared to Hajj pilgrims was about 13%, and after the victory of the revolution, this figure never increased and It did not reach 5%.

"This year, compared to 2018, the number of pilgrims in 7 caravans was more, and this quota increase was provided by the decrease in the number of Hajj agents and brokers," he added.

This year, a total of 87,650 pilgrims participated in Hajj rituals and the sending of Iranian pilgrims started on the 23rd of Ordibehesht and continued until the third decade of Khordad. After performing Hajj rituals, the return process of the convoys started on 1st of Tir and ended on Tir 23rd, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Airlines (Homa) was in charge of transporting all Iranian pilgrims this year.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab considered the reduction of four planes to transport pilgrims compared to last year as another problem of this year's Hajj, and stated that despite these problems and shortcomings, fortunately, the Hajj operation was done well and successfully with the grace of God.

"Definitely, the favors of Hazrat Haq, the prayers of the Imam of the Age Hazrat Mahdi (AS), the prayers of the Supreme Leader and the pilgrims helped this year's Hajj to be well manage," he added.

The Supreme Leader's representative of in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs considered another sign of God's favor during this year's Hajj in the holding of presidential elections in Saudi Arabia, and stated, "At 11 o'clock the next day, the day of presidential elections on the Tir 8, one of the The officials of the host country announced that the permission to hold elections in that country was not given, but how did it happen that before the morning prayer, the same official sent a text message to his Iranian counterpart to hold the elections under these conditions.

"Before that, the friends had held sixteen meetings and everything was ready for the election, and for this reason, as soon as the permission to hold the election was issued, they took action and the Hajj voting was carried out in both stages of the election," he added.

The lhead of Iranian pilgrims also called the restrictions that Saudi Arabia had created during the Hajj season this year as unprecedented, and said: Until now, there was no record of expelling six Iranian pilgrims from the two holy places after a few days of being in the land of revelation, or detaining a pilgrim for 40 days."

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab also expressed continuous warnings and warnings for not holding the program of acquittal of polytheists, but reminded that with the grace of God and with the efforts of pilgrims and Hajj workers, this year the acquittal ceremony was held in the desert of Arafat in a better way than in previous years. 

He clarified that in general, this year's Hajj was well organized despite the least factors, the hottest weather, the severe reduction of facilities and the increase of limitations, with God's grace and favor, and according to the surveys, the satisfaction level of the pilgrims was also favorable.

The head of the Iranian Hajj pointed out that with the end of the Hajj operation, the work of examining the conditions and facilities has now begun in order to solve the problems and shortcomings of the Hajj and organize it as best as possible next year.

In another part of his speech, he referred to the statements of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in a meeting with the members of the Islamic Council and called his statements "very wise, precise and fatherly".

He said that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated 11 things as the characteristics of the minister of the Islamic Revolution, who, in addition to the knowledge and expertise of an agent, has the conditions and qualities of trustworthy, honest, pious, firm belief in the system, with faith, hopeful for the future, and religious. "To be, to be famous for cleanliness, to have no bad history, to have a national attitude and to be efficient."

The head of the Iranian Hajj added, "The recommendations of the supreme leader about the minister of balance of the Islamic revolution reminds one of the letter 53 of Nahj al-Balagheh to Malik Ashtar, in which he told Malik to be a worthy, righteous, and trustworthy agent. Choose people's reputation. Those who are not greedy, reach the sustenance of the people, do not provoke the rulers to betrayal, and besides all this, Imam Ali (AS) in his covenant asked the owner to choose the agents based on their performance and not on the basis of friendship and kinship. It will employ an audit from among the people to monitor their performance."

In the final part of his speech, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab pointed to the recent developments in the Gaza war and expressed hope that the sacrifices of the resistance axis will lead to the victory of the Islamic nation, especially the Palestinian nation, in the near future.