War in the Middle East ensnares many Muslim pilgrims in travel chaos

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Travel chaos due to war in the Middle East has trapped many Muslims who converged on Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, leaving them stranded and scrambling to find other ways to return home. Others had to abandon their planned visits altogether.

For some who performed these religious rituals, the war shaking the region has cast a pall over their experience of visiting the kingdom’s holy sites.

As of Thursday, more than 58,860 Indonesian pilgrims were stranded in Saudi Arabia, according to Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak.

The government is negotiating with Saudi authorities and airlines to ease the financial burden of hotel and flight costs on stranded pilgrims, he said. The government is also urging around 60,000 other people to postpone their Umrah travel until April for safety reasons, he said.

Ministry spokesperson Ichsan Marsha called the situation an “urgent humanitarian and logistical problem.”

Zanirah Faris, a pilgrim stranded in Saudi Arabia, told Indonesian channel iNews TV that her return flight was canceled and she was reassigned to another flight scheduled for March 12.

She urged the Indonesian government to help stranded pilgrims, especially those who cannot afford the additional costs associated with such delays.

“Not everyone can book additional hotel stays,” she said, adding that there was also an emotional toll. “I’m disappointed because my children were waiting for me.”

Hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, travel to Saudi Arabia each year for Umrah rituals, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Unlike the Hajj, the pilgrimage can be performed all year round.

Around 1,600 Malaysian Umrah pilgrims were stranded in Saudi Arabia, Mohamad Dzaraif Raja Abdul Kadir, Malaysia’s consul general in Jeddah, said on Tuesday. He was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying the pilgrims were in good physical condition.

His office opened a 24-hour operations room to monitor the situation and deliver aid to affected citizens, he said.

Malaysia Airlines has announced a temporary resumption of return services from Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia until Sunday.

Separately, Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said it was working with diplomatic missions, regional governments and airlines to evacuate its stranded citizens, including pilgrims.

Beyond the Middle East, Gulf airports serve as essential hubs connecting travelers to Europe, Africa and Asia.

Maged Kholaif, a 44-year-old Egyptian, was due to return to Kuwait from Saudi Arabia on February 28, the day the war began, when his flight was canceled and rescheduled days later.

It was a sharp change from the positive vibe and spirituality he had been immersed in during Umrah, he said, adding: “It was a very difficult feeling.”

Stranded with his wife and mother-in-law, Kholaif struggled to find a way to return to Kuwait, where his children are. He felt the situation worsen when he heard from people in Kuwait that sirens and explosions were being heard there.

“Everyone was scared,” Kholaif said.

He decided to return by land and arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday for an emotional reunion.

Once “you have your children in front of your eyes and in your arms, whatever happens next doesn’t matter as long as you’re together,” he said.

In Michigan, Javed Khizer, 47, said he canceled an Umrah trip for him and his family to Saudi Arabia via Turkey and Qatar.

“We were watching the news and everything. We could only understand that the situation was getting worse,” he said. “It was a difficult decision. (…) Who knows if I will be there for the next Ramadan or not? It is not guaranteed.”

For practicing Muslims, Ramadan is a time of increased worship and daily fasting from dawn to sunset.

Umrah is often referred to as a minor pilgrimage and can be performed all year round, unlike the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The Hajj, one of the pillars of Islam, is obligatory once in a lifetime for every Muslim who has the means and is physically capable of doing so.

Pilgrim Majid Mughal, 52, who is visiting Saudi Arabia with his family from the United States, said: “We consider coming to the holy land as a calling from Allah, and during this holy month of Ramadan, I think it is highly recommended to come and visit it if you can.” »

If he had known war would break out, he said he would have called it off. Mughal and his family learned about the strikes while they were in transit to Saudi Arabia, and some passengers on other routes were stranded at the airport, but his flight proceeded normally, he added.

“So far everything is fine, thank God. There are no problems here,” he said during his visit. “There are a lot of people during the Ramadan period. I consider security as usual,” he said, adding: “We feel safe.”

The family is trying to focus on religious rituals, as well as fasting, prayer and bonding, but it has also been difficult to disconnect from the news and they have to reassure those back home that they are OK, Mughal said.

And then there are concerns about their return trip.

“We check the flight details, the departure details almost daily, just to make sure the flights are still operating,” he said, noting that his children had to go back to school and he had to go back to work.

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Fam reported from Cairo and Ng from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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