His Majesty Greets Haj Pilgrims
By Abd Rahim Mohd Taib

Bandar Seri Begawan - Excitement was in the air as more than 300 intending haj pilgrims filled the royal palace Istana Nurul Iman to receive greetings from His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Her Majesty the Raja Isteri and Her Royal Highness Pengiran Isteri yesterday.

His .Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha and Her Royal Highness Pengiran Isteri Azrinaz Mazhar yesterday granted separate audiences to intending haj pilgrims.

Accompanying His Majesty in receiving the male pilgrims was His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office. Meanwhile Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah accompanied Her Majesty the Raja Isteri and Her Royal Highness Pengiran Isteri in receiving the female, pilgrims.

The guests were served with delicacies as they waited to greet the royal family and also performed the Zuhur prayer at the Surau Besar of the Istana. His Majesty, as in previous years, presented the men with the Ihram clothes and the women with prayer robes or telekong.

An official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs reminded the pilgrims to bring along with them their passports, tickets, keys to their baggage and other relevant documents to the airport and to wear their identification hracelets at all times. Acting Director of Darussalam Holding Sdn Bhd, Mahmud Mohammad advised that all intending haj pilgrims obey all the rules issued by the company, as one of the travel agencies certified to make travel arrangements for haj pilgrims, by the Haj Department and by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

According to a senior officer at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Kamis Ali,13 people had already left for Mecca last night.

"Three officers from the ministry and 10 medical personnel will depart for the holy land this evening to make sure that final preparations are ready," he said. He further explained that a total of 26 medical personnel would accompany the haj pilgrims from Munei on each of their flights. Another batch of ministry officials and medical officers are also due to fly out soon. Intending haj pilgrim Asang @ Asary Mohammad from Rimba said "the government allocated haj fares for the public servants who served 25 years in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, and I was one of them".

"I will perform haj with my wife with our package arranged by the Humaira travel agency," he added.

According to the Haj Department, the Bruneian pilgrims will be boarded at several standard hotels, which are adjacent to the Masjidil Haram in Mecca as well as the Masjid An-Nabawi in Medina.

The first haj flight is scheduled to depart for Saudi Arabia on December 7, and the final flight on December 15. Six Royal Brunei Airlines flights, in, total, have been allocated to ferry the sultanate's intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.  -- Courtesy of Brunei Times

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