Hajj & Umrah Fraud

Steps to safeguard your pilgrimage

In recent years a growing number of people have fallen victim to Hajj fraud, with many losing thousands of pounds on planned trips to Mecca. Many victims have suffered significant financial losses, in many cases losing their life savings.

Hajj fraudsters do not discriminate against age, gender or location. In the months leading

up to the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj, organised crime groups are targeting licensed travel companies to advertise fraudulent deals to Saudi Arabia in their name.

In some cases, ‘Hajj Tours’ are being sold at up to 50% of the normal price, but shortly before departure the tour operator closes, leaving people with no tour and no way of getting their money back

There are a number of things you can do to limit your chances of becoming a victim:

Make sure your travel agent/tour operator is ATOL (Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing) protected.

If the travel agency closes down while  you are in Saudi Arabia you are guaranteed a flight home without having to pay any extra. If the agency closes down before you are due to travel, ATOL protection allows you to claim your money back.

Is your travel agent/tour operator accredited by the Saudi Embassy?

Don’t book without researching your travel agency/tour operator – if the offer seems too good to be true, it usually is. A recommendation from a friend or family member does not guarantee the authenticity of the outfit – a fraud may be ongoing for a while before the perpertrators dissipate the assets and disappear.

By researching the company you are limiting your chances of being defrauded.

Check exactly what you are paying for. When paying, consider carefully your method of payment. Establishing an uditable paper trail and keeping records of financial transactions will make it more difficult for you to be defrauded.

Get everything in writing.
Always get written  terms and conditions as this details your contract with the travel agent or tour operator. Make sure your flight details, accommodation and Hajj visa are valid.

For further information on approved, ATOL registered agents, you can contact ATOL (0207 453 6700) or the Ministry of Hajj (www.hajinformation.com).

The Head of Economic Crime at the City of London Police, Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Head, said:

“Each year Hajj fraud is destroying the dreams of an untold number of people who believe they are about to make their own pilgrimage to Mecca. The NFIB is working together with the Muslim community to shine a light on the fraudsters who continue to cause so much pain.

“The more we know of this crime the more we can do to stop it, so I would urge anyone who has fallen victim to Hajj fraud to contact the police.”

If you have been a victim of Hajj Fraud

Please don’t suffer in silence or feel embarrassed about coming forward. Asif Sadiq, who is the chairman of the Muslim Consultative Committee said:

“The Muslim community needs to ensure that all its members are aware of Hajj fraud and stress how important it is for them to support the police in any way that will help them bring these criminals to justice.”

If you think that you have been a victim of Hajj fraud, call your local police or:

City of London Police Fraud Desk
020 7601 6999

OFT Consumer Direct
08454 04 05 06

Action Fraud
0300 123 2040

For further information visit:
www.cityoflondon.police.uk

Download view inline the Fraud prevention leaflet

dobuy.co.uk/cbhuk/?page_id=1674

preserve Makkah’s history

5 October 2012 - 19 Thul-Qedah 1433 H

MAKKAH – A Dutchman played a huge role in preserving Makkah’s history in the 1880s, according to a curator of oriental manuscripts and rare books at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

In his lecture organized by Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz’s Chair for Makkah History Studies at Umm Al-Qura University in collaboration with the King Abdul Aziz Foundation on Tuesday, Dr. Arnoud Vrolijk focused on the journey of a Dutchman named Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) who traveled to Jeddah in 1884 to do some intelligence work for the Dutch government.

Hurgronje, commonly referred to as Snouck, was supposed to get as much information as he could about Achinese pilgrims and Achinese people living in Makkah.

The Achinese hail from the Aceh region located in the northern end of Sumatra, Indonesia.

At the time, Aceh was colonized by the Dutch and the Dutch government was worried that people from the region who go to perform Haj in Makkah would meet scholars who would encourage them to resist the colonizers.

Snouck’s mission was to keep a close eye on them and gather information about Achinese who might attempt to topple the Dutch regime in Aceh.

After staying in Jeddah for a while, he decided to enter Makkah but was told he could not do that because he was not a Muslim. He converted to Islam immediately.

Some historians claim that Snouck never really converted to Islam at heart, while others claim otherwise because Snouck never drank alcohol after his conversion and that he was buried as a Muslim in the Netherlands.

When he went to Makkah, the Dutch adventurer was carrying with him a large camera with which he took indoor photographs of different locations in Makkah. Afraid he would get caught, Snouck never took photographs outdoors.

However, he used the help of a Makkah man named Al-Sayyid Abd Al-Ghaffar Al-Baghdadi, who was an eye specialist according to some historians.

Five months later, Snouck was expelled from Makkah by the Ottoman ruler of the time after being accused of attempting to steal a historical artifact.

After he left, Al-Baghdadi continued to take pictures of Makkah and send them to the Dutch professor in the Netherlands.

Snouck was an avid collector of objects. He also recorded different sounds.

A plethora of the objects he gathered and the sounds he recorded along with the pictures he took are kept at the Library of Leiden University in the Netherlands.

The collections kept at Leiden University are very important not only to Makkah history but also to Jeddah and the Arabian Peninsula in general, according to Vrolijk.

The university’s library is preserving these photographs and working on making digital archives.

Khalid Al-Nasser, who is in charge of international relations at King Abdul Aziz Foundation, told Saudi Gazette that the foundation and Leiden University are planning to hold an exhibition next year to showcase Snouck’s collections and objects.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20121005138536

Kaaba cover folded up as pilgrims swell

This year Arab News didn't publish an article reporting this event on Monday evening 1 Oct,

so here's the article from last year:

MAKKAH: The kiswa, the black velvet covering of the Kaaba, was folded up by about three meters on Tuesday evening to protect it from possible damage during the peak days of Haj when pilgrims cram into the holy precincts to perform tawaf (circumambulation ritual).

General supervisor of the Kiswa Factory in Makkah Muhammad Al-Quaifili said on Wednesday that the move comes within the framework of this year's Haj plan.

Al-Quaifili said the lower part of the kiswa was folded up from the ground by about three meters with a white cloth.

The kiswa, which means a cover, has been embroidered in gold and silver and for nearly a century its manufacture has been entrusted to local artisans. Before that it used come from Egypt.

The Kiswa Factory was built about 75 years ago under the orders of King Abdul Aziz, the Kingdom’s founder.

A new kiswa is made every year at the factory.

“Many people hold tight to the kiswa and may tear the cloth during the process. Some of the pilgrims may cut pieces of the kiswa to take home as souvenirs,” Al-Quaifili said.

It is customary every Haj to fold the Kaaba cover up to protect it against tampering by overzealous pilgrims.

“We want to keep the kiswa clean and tidy all the time,” Al-Quaifili said. He added that the dress would be lowered down to its old position as soon as the Haj season was over.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/394473

Kiswa folding - 2012: www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RbTOL...!

keeping tradition alive

Jeddah: Nadim Al-Hamid

Saturday 6 October 2012

Since Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) handed over the key to the Kaaba to Othman bin Talha, the prophet’s companion’s lineage sons have been inheriting it and the title Sadin of the Kaaba until today.
The Sadin is the keeper of the Kaaba’s key.

“Sadins are originally members of the Al-Shaibi family whose history can be traced to pre-Islamic period,” said Sadin Nizar Al-Shaibi.

The family’s history in key keeping goes back to the days of Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, according to Al-Shaibi.

“During the days of Prophet Muhammad, his companion Abdullah bin Abbas, who was responsible for Zamzam water, asked the Prophet to assign Kaaba key-keeping to him,” he said, “but the prophet told him that in Surah An Nisa, Allah ordered us to return the trusts to those to whom they are due (Allâh commands that you should render back the trusts to those to whom they are due), and then he took the key to our grandfather Talha.

Usually the key is with the senior Sadin who is currently Shiekh Abdulqader Al-Shaibi. The key is used twice a year: once in the month of Muharram and the second is in the first day of the month of Sha’ban.

“In the past the Kaaba was opened twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. Now it is opened only twice a year for washing it and this would be done in an Islamic ceremony and in the presence of a large number of officials and Islamic countries ambassadors and consuls and guests of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” he said. The Kaaba is washed with zamzam and rose waters and oud.

“It’s a massive and great honor of which we are proud, and we ask Allah to enable us perform our duties toward this trust perfectly,” he said.

http://www.arabnews.com/sadin-kaaba-...radition-alive

the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere



The Nizamiye Complex and Turkish Mosque in Johannesburg seen after the inauguration by the South African president.

Thursday, 04 October 2012

South Africa on Thursday inaugurated a giant mosque complex built by Turkey, with 55-meter (180-foot) Ottoman minarets towering over a religious center the authorities described as the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

The Nizamiye mosque dominates the clear skies on the main highway between the capital Pretoria and economic hub Johannesburg.

President Jacob Zuma cut a red ribbon at the entrance to the structure, flanked by government ministers from South Africa and Turkey.

Built in three years, the complex houses a central mosque, bazaar, Islamic school, sports grounds and a clinic.

Wealthy Turkish property developer Orhan Celik built the complex with the blessing of Nelson Mandela, revered Nobel Laureate and the country’s first black president.

Mandela had insisted that a clinic be included.

The magnificent yellow structure, with its 24-meter (80-foot) diameter dome, is a replica of the 16th century Selimiye Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the town of Edirne in Turkey.

“We are not thousands of kilometers away from home, because we are home here,” Turkey’s Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan told hundreds of dignitaries at the opening banquet.

Blue Iznik ceramic tiles imported from Turkey decorated the mosque’s walls.

It is named after Nizam al-Mulk, a Persian hero who lived in the 11th century.

“The Nizamiye mosque will help promote further understanding and tolerance between diverse religions,” said Zuma to loud applause.

The complex is the largest religious educational center in South Africa, and the southern hemisphere’s largest mosque complex in area, authorities said.

A Turkish business delegation accompanied Caglayan.

Trade between the two countries reached 7 billion rands ($822 million, 635 million euros) in 2011, a 44-percent increase on the previous year, according to official figures.

http://english.alarabiya.net/article...04/241871.html