Articles about Haj Yatra

A 54-year-old man was arrested from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly duping people in the name of Haj or Umra yatra, police said on Wednesday.

Over 2,300 Muslim women from India will go on Hajj this year without 'Mehram' or male companion.

More than 2 million Muslims from around the world, including India, yesterday began the annual Hajj pilgrimage at first light in Saudi Arabia, circling the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca that Islam's faithful face five times each day during their prayers.

Over 1.28L Indian pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage, officials said yesterday.

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has flagged off the first batch of Haj pilgrims today. He said the preparations for ensuring a smooth pilgrimage have been completed.

For millions of Muslims, Mecca is the holiest place. An estimated 2mn head there annually for Hajj.

The Center has withdrawn subsidies on Haj this year onwards. This could affect the 1.75L Muslims registered to go for the pilgrimage in 2018, the highest ever.

Following the Centre's decision to allow Muslim women for the Haj pilgrimage without being accompanied by a male relative, as many as 1,244 women have applied for the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia's Mecca.

In an outrageous statement, Muslim clerics body Jamiat Ulama's Secretary, Gulzar Azmi, mocked gender equality saying, "If you want equality, why don't men and women carry pregnancy for 4.5 months each?"

If the Minority Affairs Ministry accepts a panel's recommendations, women above 45 years of age may soon be able to go on Haj without males.

With a drop of over 50% in Haj subsidy for 2017, pilgrims from Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Mumbai won't be covered under the scheme this year.

The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs constituted a six-member committee comprising experts to look into the "efficacy and viability" of the Haj Subsidy.