Islam stands on five pillars, namely (1) Kalema or six
sentences of oath to Islam, (2) Namaaj or prayer, five times a day, (3) Roja or
fasting in the month of Ramadan, (4) Zakat or giving away a part of income
(2.5%) for the sake of Jihad (i.e. for terrorist activities) and (5) Hajj or
pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Islamic Hajj, i.e. pilgrimage to Mecca, is an obligation
that every able-bodied Muslim, who can afford, is expected to perform at least
once in life. This ritual demonstrates the solidarity of the Muslim people, and
their submission to the Allah, the Islamic God. The Hajj occurs from the 8th to
the 12th day of Dhul Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
It should be mentioned here that the Hajj ritual was
considered ancient even in the times of Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century AD.
Islamic scriptures say that it was practiced even in the days of Ibrahim
(Abraham of Bible). In ancient times, tens of thousands of pagan pilgrims used
to join processions, simultaneously converging on the ancient idol-temple of
Kaaba in Mecca for the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals. Many believe that
initially the Kaaba was a temple of Lord Shiva, Hajj was a Hindu practice, and
later on included into Islam by Prophet Muhammad. In ancient tradition, the
pilgrims would walk counter-clockwise seven times about the Kaaba, a process
called Tawaf, kiss the Hazr-e-Aswad (the Black Stone), then run back and forth
from the Zamzam Well near the Kabah back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa
and Al-Marwah, then go to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, then
proceed to Muzdalifah to gather appropriate pebbles, which they would throw at
three pillars in Mina to perform the ritual of the “Stoning the Devil”. The
pilgrims would then shave their heads, perform an animal sacrifice, and
celebrate the three day global festival of Eid-ul-Adha. Muslims continue to
imitate the same.
Every male Muslim, proceeding toward Mecca to perform the
Hajj, must clad himself with Ihram, namely two pieces of white cloth, one to
wear and the other to cover the upper part of his body and thus he enters a
state called Muhrim. A person in the state of Muhrim must not tie any knots or
wear any stitched items except for a money belt if it is needed. He should
allow the ankle and back of foot to be exposed. Furthermore, whilst in the
state of Muhrim, a Muslim must also not use any scented things at all on
himself or on clothes. For women, there is no clear prescription. Women's
clothing, therefore, varies considerably and reflects regional as well as
religious attitudes. In general, female pilgrims clothe themselves in long
white robes, covering the body from head to foot and leaving the face exposed.
The simple, white Ihram clothing is indeed a Hindu practice, which is still
continuing as part of the Hajj pilgrimage.
Last year (i.e. 2009 AD), an estimated 2.5 million Muslims
from around the world converged on Mecca in November for the Hajj pilgrimage,
of which 160,491 from India. Indian pilgrims were the first to arrive, when the
Hajj Terminal opened for the season on Oct. 20, according to the Consulate
General of India, who coordinated the arrangements of 115,000 pilgrims coming
through the Mumbai based Hajj Committee of India. The remaining 45,491 pilgrims
came through private tour operators. About 500 buildings were hired to
accommodate the pilgrims in the Mecca region; 70,000 pilgrims grouped ‘green’
stayed within one kilometer from the Holy Masjid-ul-Haram (i.e. Kabaa); 13,000
grouped ‘white’ between 1 and 1.6 km from it and 32,000 others in Aziziyah. The
Indian mission set up a 50-bed hospital in Mecca. About 1,100 stayed in various
accommodations (Ribats) set up by erstwhile princely states of India.
Hajj subsidy spending
In 2007, the Hajj subsidy paid by the Indian government was
5.95 billion rupees and Rs. 7 billion for 2008 (Rs. 45 = US$ 1). Since 1994,
the roundtrip cost to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been fixed at Rs. 12,000 per
pilgrim, and the government has footed the rest of the bill. In 2007, this
difference came to Rs. 47,454 per passenger. The total Government spending for
the 2009 Hajj subsidy is not yet clearly known. Many estimate that it could be
as high as over 18 billion rupees (Rs. 1800 crore).
According to Hajj Committee CEO Mohammad Owais, the
committee has been asked by the Ministry of External Affairs to collect Rs
12,000 from each person towards airfare. According to Owais, accepting
financial assistance like subsidized airfare for Hajj pilgrimage is un-Islamic.
He also believes that one should not be under any obligation while undertaking
Hajj and the pilgrims should be allowed to travel by any airline of their
choice. “We should be allowed to place bulk orders with the airline, which quotes
the lowest price for a ticket. As of now, we are bound by the Government to
travel by Air India only”, adds Mr Owais.
It should be pointed out here that considerable criticism
has been leveled against this practice, both by Hindu organizations and by Muslim
religious groups. However, after the filing of a Public Interest Litigation by
B.N. Shukla and former BJP Rajya Sabha member Prafull Goradiyam, seeking an end
to Hajj subsidies. The Supreme Court of India, although declared the practice
unconstitutional, ruled that the subsidy may be continued.
History
The practice of providing subsidized airfare by the
Government of India began as early as 1959, as a policy of appeasing Muslims,
in contravention of the secular principle of the government. While commenting
on it, Bipin Pal, in his article The Haj subsidy: A Himalayan shame, writes,
“How absurd, if not sad, that India is the only country in the world that
provides a subsidy to its second-biggest majority for pilgrimage to Mecca; in
the pretext of her constitutional obligation (of secular) and later enacted as
the Hajj Act, way back in 1959! Thanks to Janab Jawaharlal Nehru, who chose to
give this gift to the second-biggest majority! Thanks to his stream of secular
ideologists and India's urban English press that even after 27th May 1964
(after the Janab's demise), that they chose to remain silent on the Act that
can surpass all the Constitutional provisions that can make a mockery of
democratic republic India's secular image.”
In 1992, after the demolition of the disputed structure at
Ayodhya, Mr P V Narasinha Rao, the then Prime Minister of India, to cool down
aggrieved Muslims, increased both the Hajj quota and amount of subsidy. It may
be mentioned here that the government does not provide any such subsidy to the
Hindu pilgrims, who go to visit Kailash-mansarobas in China, or to Amarnath in
Kashmir or Gangasagar in West Bengal. On the contrary, the government imposes
direct and indirect pilgrimage taxes on them.
Dispute
“Regarding a trip to Mecca for performing Hajj pilgrimage,
the Koran is very strict and says that those who perform Hajj have to do it
only from their hard-earned money. Not only that, before setting off for the
Hajj, he/she must repay his/her loans and return everything he/she might have taken
as deposits from others. The question of accepting a subsidized trip is totally
frowned upon pious Muslims. Particularly for the Indian pilgrims, the money for
subsidizing the plane fare is Kafir's money! How can a true Muslim perform Hajj
pilgrimage out of the dole or tax given by Kafir's comprising of Hindus, Sikhs,
Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Atheists. Is it not Haram? Recently, Muslim
ulemas could have understood the point and expressed their opinion that
accepting subsidy for the Hajj pilgrimage is un-Islamic and unethical (haram)”,
according to author G K Menon. It should be mentioned here that the
Chennai-based Nawab of Arcot was the only Muslim, who was most vocal on this
point and campaigned to stop the subsidy. But his pleas fell on deaf ears. The
matter has also created confusion amongst Indian pilgrims. However, recently a
group of Muslim MPs has requested the Central Government to discontinue the
Hajj subsidy, and implement other means to ease the Hajj pilgrimage.
It has been suggested that a fund (Hajj Kitti) would be
created and those, who are interested to perform the pilgrimage, would deposit
money on monthly or yearly installments, and would withdraw the money during
the journey. In fact, the present Government, led by the Indian National
Congress, is considering such an alternative as the present practice is under
severe criticism as an instrument of appeasing Muslims for votes by the certain
parties. A case against the present UPA Government is also pending in the
Allahabad High Court moved by a Hindu nationalist leader, because offering such
a financial assistance to a religious group goes directly against the secular
spirit of the Indian Constitution. Many believe that the present Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh is determined to settle the issue within his tenure, which is
going to end in 2014.
But there are indications that the dispute would continue. A
spokesman of the National Hajj Committee has been reported to have said: “We
are also citizens of this nation and, despite our hardships, we also pay tax to
the government. We also contribute to the government exchequer. So, we have the
right to enjoy government subsidies.”
But, as mentioned above, the matter is controversial even
amongst Muslims. Meanwhile, K Rahman, the Vice Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has
given a nod to an alternative arrangement as the Koran denounces accepting
subsidy for the Hajj pilgrimage. Another influential Muslim leader, Shahid
Siddiki, an MP of the Samajwadi Party, said, “Receiving Hajj subsidy is against
the tenets of Islam,” adding that, except India, no other country in the world,
even the Muslim countries, offer subsidy to Hajj pilgrims.
Demanding an end to the subsidy, Maulana Mehmood Madani,
Rajya Sabha member and general secretary of the Jamiat-e-Ulema- e-Hind, says:
“It is against the Shariat to be under any kind of obligation while undertaking
Hajj. According to the Quran, only those Muslims, who can afford the expenses,
should perform Hajj. It’s recommended only for adult, financially able and sane
Muslims.” Others, like S Q R Ilyas, convener of the Babri Masjid Committee and
a senior member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), says, “The
Hajj subsidy a sop to gain political mileage.”
In a recent article, the renowned scholar Dr Babu Susheelan
said, “Hajj subsidy is irrational, unwise and illegal. It is for appeasing
Muslims. Why taxpayer money should be channeled for Muslim visit to Saudi
Arabia? Every Muslims going for Hajj is required by Islam to behead an animal
in the name of their desert deity Allah. Why should a secular government
subsidizing Jihadis for animal slaughter? I understand that animal slaughter to
please God is banned in India. Then, it is natural for the public to ask the
question why subsidizing Islamic animal slaughter in the name of Allah? Visit
to Mecca with government money is for advanced training on beheading. Advanced
skill building will help Jihadis for beheading kafirs. It is a self-inflicted
suicidal policy of the secular government.”
It should be pointed out here that, for a Muslim of India,
Hajj pilgrimage is indeed an expensive affair, which only the wealthy Muslims
can afford; it is unthinkable for the common and poor ones. So, proving aid to
this rich and well-off section of Muslims is unethical, too. In other words, it
is simply carrying coal to Newcastle. However, the Indian Government is doing
that for the sake of Muslim votes. Apart from that, the government is spending
huge money on Muslims and providing many other facilities to appease them, e.g.
paying monthly salary to Imams of mosques, expanding madrassa education,
providing quota for Government jobs, providing easy bank loans, scholarships
for Muslim students, and so on and so forth. Still the government is failing to
earn their loyalty.
In India, the appeasement of Muslims for the sake of
vote-bank politics has reached such a point that Muslims can commit many crimes
without being convicted, can break any law even in front of the law-enforcement
authorities, can do any kind of violence on Hindus and the people of other
community under the protection of the political parties. Not a single political
party is above this mess. It has been mentioned above that BJP, known to be a
Hindu nationalist party, is raising hue and cry that the present Congress
Party-led Government is indulging in Muslim appeasement through the Hajj
subsidy. Yet, when BJP was in power, it increased the Hajj quota and the
subsidy. Moreover, previously the Hajj pilgrims had to move to Mumbai to board
the planes for Jeddah. But the BJP government, spending several thousand crores
of rupees, erected Hajj rest-houses in every metropolitan city and made it
possible for the Hajj pilgrims to board the planes for Jeddah in their home
towns.
We have seen above that, though most of the ulemas are
against accepting government subsidy for the Hajj pilgrimage, yet Hajj pilgrims
are happily to avail the subsidized journey to Mecca, and performing Hajj.
While Muslim dignitaries are probably ashamed of disclosing the truth, a Muslim
cleric, nonetheless, has conceded that a subsidized Hajj would be haraam,
provided the subsidy was un-Islamic. The injunctions of the Quran are for
Muslims; they do not apply to non-Muslims and others. Therefore, a Hajj,
subsidized by the secular Government of India, can still be halaal, because the
subsidy, offered by the kafir government, is simply a kind of spoils or
mal-e-ganimat, which Almighty Allah has made legal (halaal) in the Quran for
the Muslims.
To conclude, it may be said that, whatever may be arguments
and counter arguments, the Hajj subsidy by the Indian Government would continue
so long the politics of Muslim appeasement persists in India.
