Female pilgrims told to desist from going on tourist trips in Saudi Arabia as it is sinful

NIGERIAN female pilgrims performing the annual hajj to Saudi Arabia have been warned to desist from going on tours across holy land with men who are neither their husbands nor relatives as it is sinful and un-Islamic.

 

About 2m Muslims are performing the religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year, of whom about 70,000 are Nigerians. While in Saudi Arabia, many Nigerian pilgrims employ the services of tour guides to show them round the country by pilgrim board officials have warned women to desist from this.

 

Mallam Sa’id Zaria Mukaddas, a member of the preachers committee, told pilgrims while addressing them in the holy city of Mecca that it was un-Islamic for Muslim women to go on tours with strange men. He added that reports reaching the hajj officials indicated that female pilgrims were in the habit of allowing illegal Saudi Arabia residents, who are not their husbands or relatives, to take them on sightseeing around Mecca and Medina.

 

Mallam Mukaddas said: “In the name of going to put gold or silver on their teeth, some of our pilgrims follow strange men around. When they get there, men who are not permitted to touch their bodies, going by the Shariah, do so in the process.

 

“If you go on such journey alone and you allow yourself to be molested by bad elements, you are as good as someone who deliberately commits sin in the holy land, those whom the prophet had cursed.”

 

He advised any female pilgrim who desires to put gold or silver on their teeth to look for their state official guides, particularly those who understand Arabic, to accompany them to the dental clinic. In addition Mallam Mukaddas advised pilgrims to make the most of their presence in the holy land by praising God and seeking His forgiveness at all times, as they are not there for tourism.