Pilgrims Aged Over 65 Not Allowed to Perform Hajj This Year: State Min

Those who are over 65 years old, even have registered earlier, will not be able to go for Hajj this time, said State Minister for Religion Faridul Haq Khan.

He made the remarks at a discussion meeting at the Secretariat on Monday (April 25). The meeting was titled 'Digital Transactions in Islamic Financial Management' of Mobile Financial Service Nagad. The meeting was organized by Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF).

Asked if those who have registered before but are above 65 years of age would be able to go for Hajj this time, the state minister said, "No, they cannot go." The same condition will be applied to all the countries of the world. Those over the age of 65 cannot go.

He added that a few months of time are available for Hajj management every year, but this time very little time will be available. So he called on everyone to cooperate.

Earlier on April 13, the state minister of religion said that those who have registered for Hajj before will get priority in performing Hajj. This time, 57,856 pilgrims from Bangladesh will get the opportunity to go for Hajj, said the state minister.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia has decided to allow one million pilgrims to perform Hajj under two conditions, even though the Hajj has been performed on a limited scale for the last two years.

The two conditions are - Hajj pilgrims must be under 65 years of age and must be vaccinated in full dose. The negative certificate of PCR test will be required within 72 hours of departure for Saudi. Every pilgrim has to follow the hygiene rules. All precautionary measures taken to protect their health and safety during Hajj must be observed.