THE HAGUE, December 27, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Despite increasing costs and bird flu fears, some 5,000 Dutch Muslims are expected to perform hajj next month, fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam.

"Huge sums of money are paid during summer holidays to enjoy worldly joys, so do not why we pay similar amounts to perform hajj to erase our sins?" said a Dutch pilgrim, commenting on the high cost of hajj.

Hosni Jolak, a Dutch of Turkish origin, told IslamOnline.net that he took pains to save 12,000 euros to embark on the spiritual journey.

"We had hard times until my son and I collected the fees of the trip in order to gain the mercy of God," the 70-year-old man said.

"Hajj prices are more than expensive," he said, noting that expenses are not limited to the air ticket but include accommodation and vaccination as well.

The desire to perform hajj is not limited to the Muslim elderly in the Netherlands but second and third generations are also keen on meeting the religious obligation.

Shahda El-Emari, 24, said that she graduated and got a job and now she wants to go for hajj from her own savings.

"Although hajj expenses are very high, we are trading with Allah," she said.

Adel Belhaj, who is getting prepared for the hajj trip said he saved 4,000 euros over the past years to pay for his journey's expenses to return home with a "clean slate."

Hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj once in their lifetime.

Some tour operators are not happy about organizing hajj trips in the country as well.

"Hajj organization has become a lucrative business for some companies while others consider it an easy way for getting very rich in no time," said Ramzi Rabihi, a tour operator.

"Many tour operators still have visas and tickets for hajj, which may result in selling them at the last moment for the lowest price," he said.

He expected that the ticket will be sold for less than 1,400 euros just before the deadline for hajj trips expires after it reached 4,000 euros.

Fahd Al-Ruwaili, second in-charge in the Saudi embassy in the Netherlands, linked the soaring hajj prices to high living standards.

"A pilgrim who wants to stay in a five-star hotel has to pay a large sum that may reach 4,000 euros, but the low-income can choose the price it suits them best," he said.

Tour operators compete to organize hajj trips but it benefits the pilgrims by offering them better services, he pointed out.

Dutch Muslims make up one million out of the country's 16 million population. A total of 80 percent of them have Turkish and Moroccan roots while the rest hail from diverse ethnicities.

During the last few weeks, the majority of mosques in the Netherlands focused at their Friday sermons one the spirituality of hajj, its rituals and how to perform it properly.

State-run TV channels aired a program on hajj and its rituals that focused on obstacles that could be faced by the pilgrims, like stampedes, and how to avoid them.

This hajj, over 5,000 Dutch pilgrims are expected to perform hajj, an increase of 1,000 pilgrims compared to the previous one.

Dismissing fears of Dutch pilgrims being infected with bird flu while in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Ambassador to the Netherlands Walid Al-Kherigi told IOL that the kingdom has taken preventive measures to protect its visitors from the killer disease, including banning the entry of any live or frozen chickens with pilgrims.

"We coordinate with the World Health Organization and countries that send pilgrims in order to reach trouble-free hajj," Al-Kherigi said.

The deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has killed 67 people in five countries in Asia over the past two years.

The virus cannot pass among people the way ordinary seasonal flu does, but experts fear it could mutate into a form which can be transmitted from person to person.

Saudi authorities are tightening health checks ahead of hajj amid fears about the global spread of bird flu.

Health Minister Hamed Al-Manae confirmed on Sunday, December 26, that the 622,000 pilgrims who had arrived so far were "clear of any virus or illness."