SICK PILGRIMS CAN STILL PERFORM HAJ

MAKKAH, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Everything has been arranged to ensuring each of over 26,000 Malaysian haj pilgrims including bedridden patients in treatment centres and hospitals can peform the wukuf at Arafah plain on Sunday.Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he had asked Tabung Haji to make sure all sick pilgrims as long as they were awake and stable to be taken to Arafah in over 20 Tabung Haji ambulances to enable them to perform the wukuf there albeit momentarily."Each haj pilgrim has to be in Arafah during the wukuf period enough for several minutes to perform the essence of haj. If not it was not haj," he told Malaysian journalists here Wednesday."Therefore, the pilgrims' families back home should not worry their sick family members unable to perform the wukuf. Instead, let us pray together that they will recover fast and obtain mabrur haj," he said.He said the over 26,000 Malaysian haj pilgrims had safely arrived in the Holy Land for the wukuf in Arafah.Zahid advised the pilgrims to get ready for the wukuf by ensuring they had enough rest, taking care of diet and not to be overzealous in performing non-obligatory ibadah to the extent of affecting health.He also offered condolences to the families of 21 Malaysian pilgrims who had passed away, of those six died in Madinah, one in Jeddah and 14 here. Most of them were of old age and suffered illnesses before coming here, he said."Let us recite the Fatihah for them and pray their spirits be placed beside the prophets and martyrs," he said and added that they was fought until the last moments to perform the fifth pillar of Islam.Meanwhile, Tabung haji chairman Tan Sri Abi Musa Asha'ari Mohamed Nor said that going by the briefing by the Malaysian haj delegation head, Mohd Salleh Abdul Mubin, last night he was confident that everything would go smoothly."Contingency plans have also been arranged but I don't expect major problems will arise. God willing, all our pilgrims can perform the wukuf and throw pebbles at jamrah," he said