President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş emphasized that Hajj is not a touristic journey and stated that the spiritual and worshipful dimensions of Hajj should be preserved. He stated that Hajj services should be improved and that this sacred duty should not be seen as just a tourism activity.
The President of Religious Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, opposed the Hajj pilgrimage being seen as a touristic journey. Underlining the spiritual importance of the Hajj season, Erbaş said, “We have to take the necessary precautions against any understanding that would turn the Hajj into a touristic journey.” The President of Religious Affairs advised officials to be in constant communication with the pilgrims and to continue providing services after the Hajj. He also touched on the importance of sharing the services provided within the scope of the Hajj organization with the public and emphasized that the coverage of these services in the press is of great importance in terms of informing the pilgrims.
ANKARA (AA)– President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbaş said, “We must always keep alive our ideal of organizing an event where our citizens can fully experience the spirit of Hajj.”
According to the statement made by the Presidency of Religious Affairs, Erbaş attended the 2024 Hajj Organization Evaluation Meeting held by the General Directorate of Hajj and Umrah Services of the Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Conference Hall of the Presidency of Religious Affairs Academy.
Noting that taking 85 thousand pilgrims to the holy lands in a period of two months, performing their religious duties and then bringing them back to Turkey is an important and large organization, Erbaş said, “This organization has many visible and invisible aspects, difficulties and very different areas of work. For this reason, it is vital that the units in charge have a correct and healthy relationship with each other.”
Erbaş, who emphasized that completing the hajj organization with the least amount of trouble and difficulty is the result of unity, togetherness, understanding each other, patiently concentrating on the job and doing this job with the intention of worship, said, “In addition to the worship we perform there, we earn great rewards by serving our pilgrims. We show care in serving the pilgrims as if it were worship. We call them ‘guests of the Most Gracious’. The more you serve the guests of the Most Gracious, the more your reward increases. Indeed, being a hajj official is a blessing that requires gratitude, and the gratitude for this blessing can only be fulfilled by serving the pilgrim.”
– “Hajj is guidance”
Underlining that the Presidency of Religious Affairs has over 40 years of experience in the organization of the hajj and is a quality standard and brand in this field, Erbaş continued as follows:
“Indeed, this year, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia gave our Presidency of Religious Affairs the first prize in the category of ‘Most Disciplined Hajj Organization’. Again, last year, it gave its pilgrims the first prize of ‘Hajj Organization Offering the Most Variety of Services’. This year, again in the Hajj preparations fair we attended in Jeddah in early 2024, we received the ‘Best Prepared Organization for Hajj’ award.
I would like to thank you for your efforts in this beauty and reputation and everyone who has served from the past to the present. May Allah be pleased with you, all our brothers and teachers who have contributed. Hajj is guidance, this is the purpose. The purpose of our pilgrims is to fulfill the obligation of Hajj. Our duty is to guide our pilgrims who leave their homes to fulfill the obligation of Hajj and spend their time in Mecca and Medina. I say Hajj is guidance. We constantly emphasize that Hajj encompasses the entirety of Muslim life and brings together belief, thought, worship, action and morality.”
“We have to take the necessary precautions against any kind of understanding that will turn the Hajj into a touristic trip.”
Advising all officials not to lose contact with pilgrims after returning from the hajj and to continue their communication and services, Erbaş said that they both announced their guidance services to a wide audience through the members of the press who came for the hajj and immediately shared the services within the framework of the hajj organization with the public.
President Erbaş stated that when we look at the statistics, we see that the activities they carry out to enlighten our nation about religion, to provide guidance services and to inform the public on certain issues, taking advantage of the Hajj season, have a very large place in the written and visual press, and he made the following remarks:
“We have to make an effort to improve our hajj services every year. We should not consider the services and beauties provided as sufficient. Considering the current situation as sufficient is actually a sign of regression. The inspections carried out by the Guidance and Inspection Department during hajj and umrah are important in order to identify deficiencies and to prevent these deficiencies from being carried over to the next year. As the material and physical possibilities of hajj improve, there is a risk that the spiritual aspect and the dimension of worship will be neglected. I would also like to underline this risk.
For this reason, we have to take the necessary precautions against any understanding, idea or initiative that will turn the Hajj into a touristic travel activity. We have to always keep our ideal of organizing an event where our citizens will benefit from this blessed atmosphere to the maximum extent and live the spirit of the Hajj to the fullest. Let us evaluate our meeting in a way that will serve this purpose, God willing.”
– Meeting
Deputy President of Religious Affairs Selim Argun and General Director of Hajj and Umrah Services Remzi Bircan also gave speeches at the meeting, which was also attended by Deputy President of Religious Affairs Huriye Martı, Presidency managers, team leaders working in the 2024 Hajj Organization, as well as group leaders, and officials representing guidance and religious officials.
In the meeting, which will continue tomorrow, the work done to increase efficiency in the hajj organization will be evaluated in sessions.
