About four Ghanaians have so far died while in that country.

The Deputy Communications Director for the Hajj Board, Hajia Marian Cissey in an interview with Citi News said some of them died in their sleep while the rest suffered from some medical conditions.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hdTJn2SrYLMiA4F2LfOsjvVI3zJIRUHl”]Meanwhile, addressing the Muslims at the Black Stars Square on Friday as part of activities marking the 2017 Eid ul-Adha festival, President Akufo-Addo prayed for Allah’s protection for the pilgrims.

“Let us pray for those of our brothers, sisters, countrymen and women who have embarked on the Hajj especially our revered Chief Imam. We pray that the almighty sees them through the Hajj rites and bring them home safely,” he prayed.

On the organization of the Hajj trip, President Akufo-Addo said this year’s pilgrim “has been largely without problem” assuring that “my government is committed to maintaining the atmosphere that allows people of all religious persuasions to practice their religion without hindrance.”

About Eid ul-Adha

Muslims around the world are today [Friday] celebrating the Eid ul-Adha festival, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice.

It commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham) willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God’s command and also marks the end of Hajj, which is the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca.

Eid al-Adha is also called the “Sacrifice Feast” or “Bakr-Eid” is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Pray for Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims – Akufo-Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Responding to reports concerning the living arrangements of Ghanaian pilgrims, the Deputy Communications Director for the Hajj Board, Hajia Marian Cissey, blamed the Saudi authorities for the situation in a Citi News interview.

[contextly_sidebar id=”m0MKUtja7BkTotIo3UNdBximpfP7n8DU”]She explained that all the hotel arrangements were made, but two days before the pilgrims left Mecca to Mina in Saudi Arabia, “that was when the Saudi authorities gave out a communique that the arrangements [for accomodation] being done at Mina would be reduced.”

This communique affected all countries embarking on Hajj this year, Hajia Cissey noted.

“The reasons they [the Saudi authorities] gave so far indicates that they are overwhelmed with the numbers coming from all the countries, therefore every country must adjust. That is one of the reasons why we saw some people outside in Mina.”

One of the reasons the pilgrim numbers were inflated, in Ghana’s case, is that Ghanaians living in Saudi Arabia who wanted to perform the Hajj tried to invade the Ghanaian camp.

“Interestingly, they had even printed our bills with Ghana flags behind it. Some of them even had the wrist tags on their wrists so it was so difficult to differentiate whether the person was a Ghanaian or not, even though we did our best to fish out some of them from our tent.”

“This is a perennial problem. It is not particular to this year. It has been going on every year,” Hajia Cissey stated.

Over 100 million people embark on the religious pilgrimage every year. Ghana contributed over 6,000 pilgrims for the 2017 Hajj.

–

By: Farida Shaibu/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Pilgrims were not given enough accommodation – Hajj Board appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Confirming the incident to Citi News, the Deputy Communications Director for the Hajj Board, Hajia Marian Cissey, noted that “so far we have lost three pilgrims; two being women and one man.”

The two women died in their sleep, while the third person, a man, suffered a medical condition and died at the hospital.

Hajia Cissey noted that, the man was suffering from a condition before he embarked on the trip.

“The medical experts told us that the patient was already involved in an accident and the condition was being managed and he was on medication. So when he got here, I think that due to how stressful the whole spiritual exercise is, he suffered from internal bleeding in the brain.”

The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the most holy city for Muslims, and is considered a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, at least once in their lifetime.

The pilgrimage has often recorded deaths sometimes due to stampede and other factors.

Mecca, particularly in the summer, has a brutal climate which strains the body due to high heat, and the fact that the rites of the pilgrimage require a great deal of movement with massive crowding, it takes a toll on older people.

Also, the belief that if one dies while performing Hajj means a straight shot to heaven encourages those in extremely poor health to play it safe (in the spiritual sense) by playing it unsafely (in the physical sense).

–

By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Three Ghanaian Hajj pilgrims die in Mecca appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They included the over 400 who could not be airlifted over difficulties experienced in last year’s arrangements.

The Deputy Communications Director of the Ghana’s Hajj Board, Haruna Eliasu told Citi News all the necessary arrangements have been made ensure that this year’s pilgrimage was safe and convenient for the pilgrims.

He said the pilgrims were fed 3 times daily and were given unlimited access to the Masjid Nabawi (Haarraam) Mosques, due to the proximity of their hotels.

“As they come in batches, the same way they are inwardly transported with standard buses to Makkah after a 3-day stay in Madina… whiles in Makkah, they are provided with buses to enable their transportation to Ka’bah to perform Umrah awaiting Arafat.”

On issues of identification to ensure all pilgrims were accounted for, he said, “there are identification tags for all pilgrims for easy identification when they get missing. There are well-cultured communications, Da’wah, welfare committee members ready to attend to the needs and demands of pilgrims.”

He said the board had secured a serene hotel for the pilgrim with all the necessary utilities including water in constant supplied.

Haruna Eliasu added that “there are clinics being set up in both Madina and Makkah” with “contact numbers of the heads of medical teams are being published for people to alert them in times of emergency.”

“There would be air conditioned pavilions/tents provided for them in Mina after Arafat enroute to Musdalifa. There shall be food served in Mina during Arafat day and Jeddah when they are headed back home,” he added.

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghanaian pilgrims begin Hajj journey in Mecca appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.