New Saudi Rules on Pilgrimages Upend a Rite for New York Muslims

For much than 2 decades, Omar Elfeky’s Islamic question bureau successful a Manhattan bureau operation did a brisk concern booking flights and edifice rooms for American Muslims going connected pilgrimages to Mecca.

Although Saudi Arabia had closed its borders aboriginal successful the pandemic, concern had picked up successful caller months. But successful June, conscionable weeks earlier the hajj — the holier of 2 pilgrimages — was acceptable to commence, the question bureau faced a caller challenge: The Saudi government, which typically had a laissez-faire cognition toward Western pilgrims, tightened the rules.

Officials determination introduced a caller web portal that would dole retired pilgrimage slots via lottery. The determination upended question plans and chopped retired question agents altogether.

Mr. Elfeky said the portal, which requires pilgrims to marque their bookings straight done the Saudi government, spelled the extremity for his company, Al Eman USA. “It took america wholly retired of business,” helium said.

“The past 25 years I person made my surviving from the hajj. I person 5 employees. The hajj is the biggest trip, and we each marque our surviving from it,” helium said. “What americium I going to do?”

The hajj, which concludes Tuesday, includes Mecca and adjacent beatified sites. Muslims are required to implicit it erstwhile successful their lives if they are successful bully wellness and person the wealth to marque the trip. It is besides a large root of governmental and spiritual legitimacy for the Saudi government, which successful 2019 allowed much than 1.8 cardinal pilgrims into the country, according to the astir precocious disposable authorities data.

Over the centuries, a lucrative question manufacture has grown up astir the hajj and a akin pilgrimage that takes spot passim the twelvemonth called umrah — an manufacture that stretches from luxury hotels successful Mecca to storefront question agencies successful Queens.

In announcing the caller lottery system, the country’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said its extremity was “to make the integer acquisition for pilgrims” and “facilitate nonstop procedures and trim costs astatine competitory prices.”

It is unclear however overmuch wealth the caller strategy mightiness prevention pilgrims, and question agents presumption the rules alteration arsenic a currency drawback by Saudi officials.

“Saudi Arabia makes a batch of wealth disconnected this 1 mode oregon another,” Mr. Elfeky said.

Saudi Arabia applies quotas to the fig of pilgrims it allows each twelvemonth from Muslim countries, but those from Europe, the Americas and Australia person not faced restrictions successful the past. In 2018, the United States State Department estimated that 20,000 Americans went connected hajj, spending hundreds of millions of dollars connected question packages that often outgo much than $10,000 per person.

It was casual for ample groups to question together, similar a radical of much than 100 students from New York University who went connected hajj successful 2019 nether the enactment of Khalid Latif, the enforcement manager of the Islamic Center astatine New York University.

Going connected hajj with a radical allows radical to question with spiritual leaders they trust, who talk their connection and cognize their culture, and who tin assistance them recognize and execute rituals, Mr. Latif said.

“I was trying to instrumentality arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable who wanted to go, conscionable truthful the acquisition was 1 that allowed for them to spell with radical that they knew, a larger benignant of communal experience,” helium said.

Under the caller system, each subordinate successful a radical travel similar the 1 organized by Mr. Latif would person to triumph the lottery. The lottery results this twelvemonth were announced, successful immoderate cases, conscionable days earlier the hajj was acceptable to begin.

After the regularisation alteration was announced past month, Mr. Latif, who was readying to pb different radical this twelvemonth that included radical who canceled their trips successful 2020 and 2021, advised participants to inquire for refunds and hold their trips to a little “chaotic” year, helium said. Some had saved wealth their full lives.

Ismeil Chaiep, 65, the proprietor of El Medina Travel successful Astoria, Queens, said the regularisation alteration has driven him retired of concern too. He gave refunds to 350 customers, including immoderate who paid their deposits successful 2020 and were hoping to yet marque the travel this year.

“We could not grip it, the rent and the pay,” said Mr. Chaiep, who had 10 employees. “It was truthful hard to close. Now I bash immoderate enactment from home, but cipher tin marque immoderate wealth now.”

Hajj packages with the question agencies were not cheap.

Mr. Chaiep said immoderate of the deposits helium refunded were arsenic precocious arsenic $25,000. Mr. Elfeky said the mean outgo of an all-inclusive hajj bundle astatine his bureau was $16,000.

At Friday prayers astatine Masjid El-Ber mosque successful Astoria, a hub of the Bangladeshi community, stories abound of cousins and friends-of-friends whose hajj plans were scrambled astatine the past infinitesimal by the caller rules.

But fewer radical were consenting to knock the Saudi government, retired of fearfulness that they could beryllium barred from entering the state successful the future.

And fewer radical astatine the mosque expressed overmuch sympathy for the question agencies. When the Prophet Muhammad instructed Muslims to spell connected hajj, helium ne'er said thing astir question agents, mused Emad Chowdhury, 68.

Mr. Chowdhury said his woman went connected hajj a fewer years agone aft she purchased a $14,000 bundle from Dar El Salam Travel, an Islamic question bureau successful Manhattan. They saved each their lives for the trip, but successful the end, they lone had capable wealth for 1 idiosyncratic to go. He stayed down due to the fact that the $8,000 near successful their savings wasn’t capable to bargain a 2nd package.

“I deliberation this is simply a bully happening for us, for pilgrims,” helium said. “People possibly are confused present but this volition beryllium better.”

Asmaa al-Omar contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon.