Haj Subsidy: Pilgrimage by subsidy

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Pilgrimage by subsidy
Aug 08, 2002, thehindubusinessline.com, Rasheeda Bhagat

THE Centre’s proposal to scale down the subsidy given to Haj pilgrims needs to be endorsed and welcomed by the Muslim community. Not so much because this is a “gesture” of the Government flung at the 140 million-odd Muslims of this country by the Sangh Parivar and its friends, but more so because Islamic scholars point out that the very spirit and essence of the pilgrimage is negated when a Haji (a person who performs Haj) takes a monetary obligation to perform the pilgrimage.

They point out that Haj is after all the fifth pillar or tenet of Islam — the first being Iman (faith and the belief that there is no other god but Allah and Prophet Mohammed is his messenger), followed by namaz (prayer), zakat (charity performed voluntarily), fasting and Haj. The Hadees (a collection of the Prophet’s words and deeds) lays down the basis of Islamic tenets on such issues as religious beliefs, fasting, pilgrimage, purification, trading transactions, inheritance and the like, makes it clear that Haj is not mandatory and only obligatory for those with the financial wherewithal.

A controversy has been raging for long over the Rs 150 crore spent annually from the Central exchequer to subsidise the Haj pilgrimage of thousands of Muslims. Over the years, the number of Muslims who perform Haj under the Central quota has been increasing and last year 70,298 Indians performed Haj under the aegis of the Central Haj Committee (CHC) out of a total of 1.2 lakh Indian Muslims who undertook the pilgrimage. The subsidy for each quota pilgrim came to Rs 23,300, with the Haji paying only Rs 12,000.

The Haj subsidy has been causing heartburn among other communities for long with the question often being asked why only the Muslims should be singled out for such “appeasement” or “favouritism”.

Now, it appears, the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Shahnawaz Husain, has been consulting a section of the Muslim community to build up a sort of consensus to scale down the subsidy and restrict it to certain sections. The decision to reduce the subsidy burden is based on the recommendation of the Tenth Expenditure Reforms Commission, which has suggested that the subsidy should be frozen at the present level, as it has the potential to keep increasing over the years.

According to a report in The Hindu, at a “dinner diplomacy” exercise the Minister had in Delhi with some Muslim MPs a few days ago, it was proposed that only those who are 50 and above should be eligible for the subsidy, which should be given only once in a lifetime. Also, the annual quota of pilgrims should be reduced from 72,000 to 50,000 and the airfare for travel to Jeddah raised from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000, as it has not changed since 1994. It has also been suggested that those who pay income-tax should not be eligible for the subsidy.

Welcoming the Government’s proposal, and in fact suggesting that the subsidy, and the Haj Committee, which oversees the Haj arrangements for pilgrims, be scrapped altogether, a Chennai-based Islamic scholar and chartered accountant, Mr M. Z. Chida, points out that a Muslim has no compulsion to perform Haj with a subsidy or help in any form from the state.

“The Koran and the Hadees are very clear that Haj is obligatory only for those who are physically, mentally and financially able to undertake the pilgrimage. Nowhere is it said that people should take money or any other obligation from any source — governmental or otherwise — to perform Haj. I feel this Haj subsidy is a political gimmick. For the benefit a microscopic section of the Muslim community, the entire 140 million Muslims in this country have to suffer the taunt of Muslim appeasement. So, the scheme should be scrapped totally.”

Mr Chida recalled that a few decades ago Haj pilgrims used to travel by ships. However, as the exercise was not profitable, the vessels stopped plying. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said that Haj pilgrims could travel by air. However, as the difference in the cost of travelling by air and sea was rather large, she said the government would subsidise the difference. “That is how it all began. But over the years, I am sorry to say, it has degenerated into a kickback business. A few years ago, a CBI officer was put in charge of investigating into charges that crores of rupees was being siphoned off under the guise of Haj subsidy. Right from air travel, to provision of accommodation and other facilities, at every stage money is being made by dishonest people.”

He says the most distressing aspect of “this Haj business” is that every year a huge Haj delegation is sent by the government at its expense. As for the composition of that delegation, a “retired judge once told me that people who have never entered a mosque find a place on it. All kinds of people and their spouses travel free of cost, are accommodated in first class hotels, commute by air-conditioned cars and are given a daily allowance of 150 rials per day for their 21-day stay. Small wonder then that they come back with tonnes and tonnes of shopping. If we go back to the Koran and the Hadees, when you perform Haj at government expense, that is no Haj at all.”

He cites a judgment of the Lahore High Court that directed the Pakistan Government not only to put an end to a similar practice of sending people to Haj on government expense, but also to recover the money thus spent because the practice was un-Islamic. Agreeing with him about the need to scrap the subsidy programme, Chennai-based Dr Zaheer Ahmed Sayeed, Consultant Neurologist to Apollo Hospitals, said: “Perhaps I will be lynched by the community for saying so, but this practice should be stopped because it goes against the very tenets and philosophy of Islam.”

He points out that nowhere in the Koran is it said that Haj should be performed with money given by the government or the ummah (community). “Haj is the last of the five basic tenets of Islam. If you can afford it and find the money to perform Haj without compromising any of your obligations, you should go. The Koran and the Hadees are clear that anybody who has not yet discharged all their obligations to their children or other dependants cannot, and should not, undertake Haj. Nowhere is it said that if you cannot perform Haj, you are not a Muslim.”

Asked how poor Muslims would undertake the Haj pilgrimage, Mr Chida says that there are enough fables available in Islam to show that the Prophet did not want anyone to be economically disadvantaged by performing Haj, which was not compulsory. “One man asked Prophet Mohammed that he had 12 houses, so could he sell one of them and perform Haj. And the Prophet said: No, you should not be economically impoverished by performing Haj. Similarly, when another man asked him if he should use his surplus money to go to Haj or put it in his business to enhance it, the Prophet said use it for your business. What the management gurus talk about today, Prophet Mohammed declared 1,400 years ago!”

Haj on borrowed money is also ruled out in Islam. It is often pointed out that a debtor should first clear his debts and only then think of performing Haj. The only exception is if the man to whom a person owes money is affluent and willing to wait for his dues and gives consent that Haj can be performed first and his money returned later.

Mr Chida adds that the Haj subsidy and committees formed to facilitate the pilgrimage are anachronisms in an age when enough flights and the services of internationally reputed tour operators are easily available. Urging Muslims to understand the essence of what Allah looks for in a Haji undertaking the pilgrimage he relates a fable in which one saint asked another during a Haj pilgrimage on how many Hajis’ pilgrimage would be accepted by Allah. “He said none. He then explained to the shocked man that the only person whose Haj would be accepted that year was of a cobbler in Alexandria. On his way to Mecca, he was accosted by a very poor man in urgent need of money, and readily parted with the money meant for Haj. So, my request to the Government would be to please use the Rs 150 crore on more worthwhile causes like education and health care for the poor.”

Response can be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in