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Qirqah
said it is permissible for Muslim women to perform hajj in the
company of trustworthy fellow Muslims.
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PARIS,
January 9 (IslamOnline.net) - Praying for a cherished dream to come
true, French female converts are disappointed at Saudi regulations,
which ban women from performing hajj without a husband or a close male
relative forbidden in marriage (a mahram).
Many
were the times that the Saudi consulate in Paris denied female
converts visas for such a reason.
The
latest was on Wednesday, January 5, when a 26-year-old female convert
received a point-blank refusal to her hajj visa application.
Her
relatives told IslamOnline.net that it was the third time she had her
request rejected by the Saudis though she was to travel along with a
group of trustworthy and virtuous women.
“I
did not apply for a hajj visa this year because the consulate rebuffed
last year’s request,” 29-year-old Claudia, who accepted Islam five
years ago, told IOL.
Hajj
is one
of the “five pillars” of Islam , and an essential part of
Muslims’ faith and practice on the condition of physical and
financial ability.
It
consists of several
ceremonies , meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the
Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and
his family.
Permissible
Under
Shari`ah, women cannot travel all by themselves to perform hajj and
are required to be accompanied by a mahram.
Anis
Qirqah, member of the European Council of Fatwa and Research, said it
is permissible
for Muslim women to take on the holy journey in the company of
trustworthy and faithful women, citing the rulings of some juristic
schools.
He
told IOL that a mixed group of honest and truthful men and women can
escort female pilgrims to the holy lands.
Qirqah,
also the director of the Paris-based European Institute of Humanities,
added that some juristic schools even said that women can go along
with a group of righteous and faithful male pilgrims.
He
urged Saudi authorities to adopt the “trustworthy group” option,
given that a large number of the female converts are not married and
have no Muslim relatives.
“Enabling
them to perform hajj will definitely firm up their faith and denying
them the spiritual journey could make them relapse and regress to, God
forbid, apostasy,” Qirqah warned.
Abdel
Hafiz Al-Khamiri, the managing editor of the Generation
magazine, said the reluctance of the Saudi authorities shocked the new
converts.
“They
opened their hearts to this religion and found hajj as an opportunity
for spiritual renewal,” he told IOL.
The
first groups of French pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia on December
24.
Some
25,000 French Muslims are expected to perform hajj this year with more
than 60% of them youths.
According
to figures released by the French Interior Ministry, a record 50,000
people have embraced Islam in 2004.
Estimates
put the number of Muslims in France between five and six millions, the
latest Muslim community in Europe.
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