Ghoulamallah to “Echorouk” Forum: “The 2008 Pilgrimage outlay was staggering”.

The minister of religious affairs and wakfs Bouabdallah Ghoulamallah has told the “Echorouk” Forum that the expenses of the Hadj or pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam in Saoudi Arabia in 2008 were exorbitant compared with the previous years where the outlay was less important for the Algerian Hadjis.  

• The expenditure incurred by the accommodation in the  various hotels of Medina and Mecca were beyond the estimates and expectations of the Office in charge of the Hadj and Omra, he said.
• According to the minister, this hike in the expenses did not however prevent the Algerian Hadjis to fulfill their pilgrimage in the holy places of Islam in good conditions.
• He noted nevertheless some “lapses” in the organization of the Algerian Hadjis’ stay in Minen and Arafa mainly because of the huge influx of the pilgrims at the same place and at the same moment for the last ritual of the pilgrimage.
• Ghoulamallah further evoked the status of those volunteers, charged by the religious ministry to dispense religious courses in the mosques, stressing that their role and duty would be redefined according to strict rules in order to avert any drift in the future.
• The religious affairs minister also affirmed that certain failing Imams who deal a blow to the unity of the Algerian people and to the foundations of the Algerian society would be banned from preaching by the relevant authorities.
• He indicated that the number of these defaulting Imams did not exceed 10 out of the 22.000 Imams officiating across the national territory.
• Ghoulamallah also announced on the occasion that starting from 2010, those students who learn by heart the Holy Koran in its entirety would receive a diploma equivalent to the Baccalaureate which would allow them to pursue higher Islamic studies and notably vie for the post of officiating Imam in a mosque.