Al-Madina newspaper

EVERYONE knows that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ever since its founding, has been exerting all possible efforts to serve the millions of pilgrims who come from all over the world to perform Haj and Umrah. The Kingdom considers its service for the two holy mosques and pilgrims as a great honor and this has been one of the distinguished prerogatives of this country.

Haj and Umrah pilgrims have witnessed the remarkable progress achieved by the two holy mosques as well as the holy sites in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa over the past few decades. The Saudi government readied advanced facilities and services in order to help the guests of God perform their religious rituals with ease and comfort, and in peace and tranquility.

While Saudi Arabia takes these blessed steps for the benefit of the guests of God, some countries and regimes, especially the Qatari regime, spread lies and allegations against the Kingdom. The Qatari regime has been preventing its citizens from going to the holy places in Saudi Arabia giving false reasons but its machinations have failed miserably.

The Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah recently made an announcement welcoming Qatari citizens and expats to perform Umrah in Ramadan and offered a series of facilities and services for pilgrims from the country.

The announcement said the ministry had enabled 7 million pilgrims to perform Umrah with ease during this holy month, adding that it was looking forward to the arrival of Qatari brothers at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah en route to Makkah to perform Umrah.

The move comes after the Qatari regime’s intransigence and the measures it has taken to prevent its citizens and residents from performing the pilgrimage. At the same time the Saudi government, following the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, has mobilized its human and material resources in the service of pilgrims who come from all over the world.

Despite the sanctity of time and place and irrespective of the fact that Haj and Umrah are considered basic rituals in the Islamic faith, some regimes and authorities insist on distorting the facts and exploiting the pilgrimage for political purposes from time to time. They repeat lies and allegations to raise doubts and suspicions about the Kingdom’s services to the guests of God and its clear stand on the issue.

These regimes also exploit social media platforms using suspicious accounts to attack the Kingdom and belittle its services to the millions of pilgrims. Both Qatar and Iran have been preventing their citizens and residents from traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj and Umrah while claiming Saudi Arabia had banned them.

The intransigence of Qatar and other misguided regimes has been preventing their pilgrims from traveling to Makkah and it is quite obvious. It is no longer acceptable as many people have expressed their indignation over such deliberate moves.

Saudi Arabia’s global reputation remains strong despite the machinations of its enemies. It is quite clear from its commendable services to the millions of Haj and Umrah pilgrims who enjoy their stay in the Kingdom. Only the blind can deny this truth.