Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, often has certainly one of the best death rates among the many thousands and thousands of foreigners making the haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Indonesian pilgrims often wait until they’re of age to finish the pilgrimage on account of long waiting lists and quotas of their home country.
About 240,000 Indonesians have made the journey to Mecca this yr, in line with government data. Of these, almost 45,000 were over the age of 65, with some of their 90s. The oldest Indonesian pilgrim was 109 years old this yr.
Videos shared by social media users in Indonesia showed some pilgrims’ frustration with their accommodation.
Aware of the risks of overcrowding, panic and providing water and shelter from the sun to the nearly two million pilgrims expected this year, Saudi Arabian authorities have also tightened controls by introducing a biometric digital ID for pilgrims to facilitate identification and improve services.
However, as every year, tens of thousands of people tried to make the pilgrimage unofficially because they could not afford to pay for official visas, further increasing congestion.
In response to a post about deaths caused by extreme heat, one user
According to a report by Agence France-Presse, a total of almost 900 pilgrims died during this year’s haj pilgrimage.
Without air-conditioned facilities and additional water provided by Saudi Arabian authorities along the haj route, all pilgrims are exposed to extreme summer temperatures, which this year have hovered around 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
The number of Indonesians who die during the pilgrimage is increasing. According to data from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, 774 deaths were reported last year, more than eight times the number in 2022.
Climate experts have warned that as global temperatures rise, deaths and illnesses during the haj pilgrimage are likely to increase.
“Hajj has been performed in a certain way for over 1,000 years and the climate has always been hot,” Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, scientific adviser at the German Institute Analytics, told Reuters. However, “the climate crisis is worsening climate conditions.”
The time of the Hajj varies depending on the season on account of the lunar Hijri calendar, which is used to find out it, and is 10 days shorter than the Gregorian one. Every yr the haj drifts earlier. By the 2040s, pilgrimages to Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba, will move closer to winter in Saudi Arabia.
Naim, who’s participating on this yr’s pilgrimage, said many of the deaths occurred amongst pilgrims aged 54 to 75 and were attributable to heart disease, pneumonia or blood infections.
“The hospital in Saudi Arabia and the staff of Tabung Haji helped the next of kin of the deceased and informed their next of kin in Malaysia,” Naim said at a news conference in Mecca, referring to Malaysia’s state-owned Haj Fund, which organizes the pilgrimage for the country’s Muslim residents.
While Malaysian pilgrims enjoyed the rain that fell on the primary day of Eid, with many sharing photos on social media, it was a transient respite as temperatures quickly rose after the rain stopped.
“My son [who is in Mecca] she saw many individuals fall in front of him,” housewife Fatimah Mat Arop told This Week in Asia.
“He was grateful that I decided not to perform the haj this year because it is too hot.”
“Oh God, forgive us all,” Rasyid said, saying that the deceased received a blissful death within the holy land.
