2013 Hajj: Intending female pilgrims must be accompanied by muharram – NAHCON

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria will not allow any intending female pilgrim to perform this year’s hajj without a male companion (muharram).
Alhaji Uba Mana, who reiterated this on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said that muharram for a female pilgrim had always been part of the Islamic injunction.
Mana said: “All Muslims know that it is a simple injunction mostly in the sharia, that women should not travel a certain distance without a muharram, especially for Hajj.”
Mana explained that what happened last year, which resulted in some Nigerian female pilgrims being sent back home, was as a result of communication gap between the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and NAHCON.
He said that before the beginning of hajj every year, the commission usually signs a Memorandum of Understanding on the conduct of the exercise.
He said: “This is not only applicable to Nigeria, but to all the countries of the world.
“They must sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj each year before any Hajj operation begins.
“The aim is to address emerging issues and to enforce compliance with the rules and regulations guiding that particular year’s pilgrimage.”
He said that for some time now, the agreement of various Islamic schools of thought like the Malikiyya, which Nigeria strictly adheres to, is that intending female pilgrims should be protected.
Mana said that based on the understanding of the malikiyyah school of thought, government or a group of elderly women could provide protection for female pilgrims.
“This has been going on for quite some time, but all of a sudden the Saudi government became so strict and decided to change its policy midway and insisted that each female pilgrim must have a muharram,” he said.