Be Wary Of Dubious Badal Hajj Offers - Consul General 

By Amirul Mohd Sajadi

JEDDAH, May 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysians are reminded not to be easily fooled by dubious offers of badal hajj (haj by proxy) services, especially those offered at "extraordinarily" low prices compared to the actual cost of the pilgrimage.

Malaysian Consul General in Jeddah Tengku Mohd Dzaraif Raja Abdul Kadir said the cost of performing hajj is high, hence any unreasonable offer is feared to not meet the prescribed pillars and obligatory hajj.

"If badal hajj services are offered at a cost that is too cheap, we need to be careful because it may involve things that do not meet the requirements of the pilgrimage," he told reporters after the arrival of the first group of pilgrims at the Hajj Terminal of King Abdul Aziz International Airport here today.

Earlier, a total of 276 pilgrims of group KT48 via the first direct KLIA-Jeddah flight arrived safely at 4.40 am local time (9.40 am Malaysia time).

Commenting further on the issue of badal hajj, Tengku Mohd Dzaraif explained that for domestic hajj packages in Saudi Arabia itself, the minimum cost is around RM9,000 to RM10,000.

"If there is an offer below this range, it may not be logical or is dubious," he said.

Tengku Mohd Dzaraif said that so far no reports have been received involving Malaysians regarding badal hajj scams, but cases reported by local media involving other countries prove that the activity is still happening.

In this regard, he advised the public to check carefully and not rush to make payments to any party offering the service.

Meanwhile, he reminded pilgrims of the strict enforcement by the Saudi Arabian government ahead of the hajj season, including permit checks through the Nusuk system to ensure that only those with valid visas are allowed to be in Makkah.

-- BERNAMA