Prominent human rights organisations and activists have accused the Saudi authorities of using Hajj and Umrah as a tool for repression and a way to punish political opponents.
Signatories to a statement include the Sanad Organization, CAGE, the International Center for Justice, the Scholars Forum, the Community of Tunisian Scholars, the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, and the Institute for Gulf Affairs.
They say many activists, politicians, and scholars from different Muslim countries are not able to perform the rituals of Hajj and Umrah, while some are deceived into entering the country only to be forcibly disappeared or handed over to other repressive countries that infringe their freedoms.
The signatories say it is the right of every Muslim to perform the pilgrimages and no nation state should be able to stop them.
They say: “We also call all scholars of the Islamic world, scholarly institutions, human rights organisations and all Muslims in the world to remind the Saudi government of its duty towards the Holy Places and their visitors, and explicitly inform them that enabling all Muslims to visit them and ensuring their safety is a legitimate right and an imposed duty that must be done to the fullest and without discrimination or political bias.
“And to make it clear that these unjust practices and sinful violations are a betrayal of God’s covenant and remind them to fulfil this duty and abide by its obligations and stop everything that harms those who go to the Holy Places.”
Below is the statement in full:
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Makkah and Medina are the hearts of the Muslims and travellers from all over the world are attracted to them; all Muslims in the world are eager to visit them and perform the Hajj and Umrah rituals. Visiting these Holy Places is a right guaranteed by Islamic law to every Muslim on earth and nobody should prevent Muslims this right and no one has the right to do so. But it is God’s grace alone to make these Holy Places within the geography of a country. This has been the case in all countries which care for the Holy Mosques and organise the Hajj and Umrah throughout Islamic history.
However, what has happened in the past decade is different as Muslims know of the rights of their religion and what it teaches about the countries and kingdoms that sponsor the two Holy Mosques in the past where the Saudi government deliberately involved the Holy Places of Makkah and Medina in its political battles to use them to serve its various security purposes. Anyone who disagrees with their political or intellectual mood is either banned from Hajj and Umrah or is in prison.
Previously the Hajj was more like a huge Islamic conference where Muslims of all spectrums gather – scholars, preachers, prominent figures, reformers and politicians attended it and met in one place to discuss the concerns and hopes of the Islamic world and to exchange visions and ideas. However, this important and useful appearance has almost completely disappeared lately except that which the Saudi government wants to happen according to its own purposes. Scholars, reformers and preachers in the country are either in prison or expelled; as for those abroad they are banned from the Hajj or cannot come to it for fear of being a victim of the oppression of the Saudi regime.
Another form of violation practiced by the Saudi government is the manipulation of the issue of the proportion and numbers of pilgrims from different countries as they are not developed for organisational purposes, but rather for political considerations and government interests – not to mention the deliberate harassment of Muslim minorities in Europe, America and the West in general. As well as the use of Hajj as a tool to pressure countries and the provision of Hajj visas as political bribes to those whom the government wants to co-opt or use for its political and security goals.
We the signatories of the statement affirm and reiterate this reminder to the Saudi government that Hajj and Umrah is a right guaranteed to every Muslim and it is not permissible to prevent a Muslim from Hajj under any pretext. We also confirm granting a visas for Hajj and Umrah requires safety and for pilgrims entering Saudi Arabia not to be harmed. And we affirm our categorical rejection of all illegal practices against those who intend to visit the sacred House of Allah and the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad. We express our full condemnation of the use of Hajj and Umrah as a political and security tool or a means of oppression and repression or politicisation of Hajj and Umrah in any way.
We also call all scholars of the Islamic world, scholarly institutions, human rights organisations and all Muslims in the world to remind the Saudi government of its duty towards the Holy Places and their visitors, and explicitly inform them that enabling all Muslims to visit them and ensuring their safety is a legitimate right and an imposed duty that must be done to the fullest and without discrimination or political bias. And to make it clear that these unjust practices and sinful violations are a betrayal of God’s covenant and to fulfil its duty and abide by its obligations and stop everything that harms those who go to the Holy Places.
