Haj quota for Malaysia increased to 28,000 this year

The Haj quota for Malaysia has been increased to 28,000 pilgrims this year from 26,000 previously.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom said Malaysia had applied for increased quota from Saudi Arabia’s Haj and Wakaf Minister at a meeting and this was approved based on Malaysia’s increased population.

“At the same time, we are applying for an additional quota to enable more Malaysian Muslims to perform the Haj,” he said after launching the Putrajaya Islamic Administrative Complex project in Precinct 3 today.

He, however added that there would be no increase in Haj charge this year, remaining at RM9,980.

He said more than 400,000 of the 5.7 depositors with Tabung Haji were eligible to perform the Haj based on their sufficient savings with the fund.

On the RM400 million complex which is expected to be ready in August 2014, Jamil Khir said it would be a one-stop centre handling Islamic matters, and where eight agencies currently in different locations in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur including the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and the Wakaf, Zakat and Haj Department (Jawhar) would be placed together.

He said the other agencies involved would be the Malaysia Syariah Judiciary Department, Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP), Putrajaya branch of the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi), Federal
Territory Mufti’s Office, Malaysia Islamic Propagation Foundation (YaDIM) and Malaysia Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM).

Besides meant to be a landmark and pride of Muslims in the country, the complex is also built to improve the service delivery system pertaining to Islamic matters, besides making it convenient for the service users as the services would be under one roof, he added.

Built on a 2.2ha site next to Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque in Putrajaya, the complex will have four blocks with classic Islamic architectural features like arches and a garden with water features, besides meeting the green building index and having various environment-friendly and energy-saving features.

Based on smart partnerhsip, the comppex will be built and owned by Tabung Haji as investment, and rented exclusively by the relevant Islamic religious departments and agencies.

– Bernama