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Suspense surrounds names of low-cost Haj operators

August 18, 2014

Jeddah, Aug 18: The Haj Ministry is all set to hand over accommodation blocks in Mina to low-cost Haj operators ahead of the annual pilgrimage.

The ministry, however, has still not announced the names of the operators who have been allotted the housing, which enables local pilgrims to perform Haj at reduced costs.Mina Hajj

The Civil Defense, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), National Water Company (NWC) and other agencies finalized site inspections last week. Haj Minister Bandar Hajar also inspected the site.

“Providers are not allowed to modify structures allotted to them and are required to provide a comprehensive security system to prevent unauthorized entry into housing units meant for low-cost pilgrims,” said Sahil Al-Sabyan, a senior official at the Haj Ministry.

Around 41,000 pilgrims within the Kingdom will be performing Haj this year under the scheme, which was introduced by the ministry last year. More than 17,000 pilgrims were able to benefit from the scheme the first time it ran.

The 50 percent reduction in the quota of local pilgrims triggered a price war last year, prompting the ministry to focus more on low-cost accommodation this year.

The 41,000 pilgrims will be distributed among 62 operators.

Many pilgrims have expressed frustration over the fact that the names of the operators of low-cost Haj has not been announced.

“I hope to perform Haj if I qualify for the low-cost category, otherwise I will just go home on vacation,” said Mohammed Ali Azad, an Indian expatriate.

“I also tried to qualify last year, but was unable to find any low-cost operators despite reading ads in the media. Unfortunately, the issue seems as unclear this year too.”

The low-cost Haj scheme is divided into eight categories, ranging from SR1,500 for an e-class package to SR7,500 for the a-class category depending on the Haj services provided in each package.

The Haj Ministry has made arrangements for a total of 168,000 to perform Haj this year.

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KT
April 14,2020

Dubai, Apr 14: Saudi Arabia reported 435 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 5369, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.

According to the ministry of health the number of recoveries today are 84 cases, making total of recoveries in the kingdom 889.

The ministry also confirmed 8 deaths bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 73.

Saudi Arabia imposed a 24-hour curfew and lockdown on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar. This week the curfew was extended until further notice.

Containment efforts
Saudi authorities are racing to contain an outbreak of coronavirus in the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Mecca, home to 2 million people, reached 1,050 on Monday compared to 1,422 in the capital of Riyadh, a city more than three times the size. Mecca’s large number of undocumented immigrants and cramped housing for migrant workers have made it more difficult to slow the infection rate.

Saudi Arabia has reported one of the lowest rates of infection in the region, with around 5,000 cases in a population of over 30 million.

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Agencies
May 18,2020

Jeddah, May 18: Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and head of the Council of Senior Scholars and the Department of Scientific Research and Ifta Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Asheikh ruled that it is permissible to perform Eid Al-Fitr prayer at home under exceptional circumstances similar to the current pandemic situation. The prayer consists of two rakats with reciting more numbers of takbeer and without a sermon.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, he said that Zakat Al-Fitr could be distributed through charitable societies if they are reliable ones, with the condition that it should be distributed before the day of Eid. The Grand Mufti urged parents to bring joy and happiness to their children and their families by spending more on them.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Abdul Salam Abdullah Al-Sulaiman, member of the Council of Senior Scholars and the Standing Committee of Fatwa, said that Eid prayer could be performed individually or in congregation.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, he said that the worshiper will recite takbeer to start salat and then follow it with six more takbeer in the first rakat before reciting Fatiha loudly and then it is ideal to recite Surah Al-Qaf.

In the second rakat, there will be five takbeer after the takbeer at the start of the rakat before starting to recite Surah Fatiha and then Surah Al-Qamar, following the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It is also ideal to recite Surah Al-A’la and Al-Ghashiya instead of Al-Qaf and Al-Qamar in each rakat respectively.

Sheikh Al-Sulaiman also cited the example of Anas Bin Malik, a prominent companion of the Prophet (pbuh). When Anas (May Allah be pleased with him), was at his home in Zawiya, a place near Basra, he did not find any Eid congregation prayer and therefore he performed prayer along with his family members and his aide Abdullah Bin Abi Otba.

The scholar said that the time for Eid prayer begins after sunrise and the best time is after the sun rises by the height of one or two spears as agreed by most scholars. This means 15 or 30 minutes after sunrise and its time continues until the end of the time of the Duha prayer; that is before the Zuhr prayer begins.

The prayer is forbidden at the moment when the sun rises, and the majority of jurists, including the schools of thought of Shafi, Maliki, and Hanbali opposed prayer at sunrise and favored to perform the prayer only after the sun rises by the height of one or two spears in the sky.

Regarding the recitation of takbeer on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, Sheikh Al-Suleiman said that it should begin during the night of the Eid and continue until the beginning of the Eid prayer.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Paris, Feb 5: Saudi Arabia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus on a poultry farm, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday, February 4.

The outbreak, which occurred in the central Sudair region, killed 22,700 birds, the OIE said, citing a report from the Saudi agriculture ministry.

The other 385,300 birds in the flock were slaughtered, it said.

The case was the first outbreak of the H5N8 virus in Saudi Arabia since July 2018.

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