War in the Middle East ensnares many Muslim pilgrims in travel chaos

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The travel chaos from the war in the Middle East has ensnared many of the Muslims who have converged on Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, leaving them stranded and scrambling to find other ways home. Others had to scrap their planned visits altogether.

For some who performed the religious rituals, the war roiling the region has cast a pall on their experience of visiting the kingdom's holy sites.

As of Thursday, more than 58,860 Indonesian pilgrims were stranded in Saudi Arabia, according to Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak.

The government is negotiating with Saudi authorities and airlines to ease the financial burden of hotel and flight costs on the stranded pilgrims, he said. The government also is urging about 60,000 others to postpone their Umrah travel until April for safety reasons, he said.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Ichsan Marsha, has called it an “urgent humanitarian and logistical issue.”

Zanirah Faris, a pilgrim who is stranded in Saudi Arabia, told Indonesia’s iNews TV outlet that her return flight was canceled and that she was reassigned to another flight scheduled for March 12.

She urged the Indonesian government to help stranded pilgrims, especially those who couldn’t afford the extra costs that come with such delays.

“Not everyone can book additional stays at a hotel,” she said, adding that there is an emotional toll as well. “I’m disappointed because my children have been waiting for me.”

Hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, travel to Saudi Arabia annually for Umrah rituals, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Unlike the Hajj, the pilgrimage can be performed year‑round.

About 1,600 Malaysian Umrah pilgrims were stranded in Saudi Arabia, Mohamad Dzaraif Raja Abdul Kadir, Malaysia’s consul general in Jeddah, said on Tuesday. He was cited by the national Bernama news agency as saying that the pilgrims were in good condition.

His office opened a 24-hour operations room to monitor the situation and channel assistance to affected citizens, he said.

Malaysia Airlines announced a temporary resumption of return services from Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia until Sunday.

Separately, Malaysia’s foreign ministry said it was working with diplomatic missions, regional governments and airlines to evacuate its stranded citizens, including the pilgrims.

Beyond the Middle East, airports in the Gulf serve as critical hubs connecting travelers going to Europe, Africa and Asia.

Maged Kholaif, a 44-year-old Egyptian, was supposed to return home to Kuwait from Saudi Arabia on Feb. 28, the day the war began, when his flight was canceled and rescheduled for days later.

It was an abrupt change from the positive mood and spirituality he had been immersed in during the Umrah, he said, adding: “It was a very difficult feeling."

Stranded with his wife and mother-in-law, Kholaif scrambled to find ways to return to Kuwait, where his children are. He could feel the situation escalating as he heard from people in Kuwait that sirens and explosions were heard there.

“Everyone got scared,” Kholaif said.

He decided to return overland and arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday for an emotional reunion.

Once “you have your children in front of your eyes and in your embrace, whatever happens next doesn't matter as long as you're together,” he said.

In Michigan, 47-year-old Javed Khizer said he canceled Umrah travel for him and his family to Saudi Arabia via Turkey and Qatar.

“We were looking at the news and everything. We could only understand that the situation is getting worse,” he said. “It was a difficult decision. ... Who knows whether I will be there for next Ramadan or not? It’s not guaranteed.”

For observant Muslims, Ramadan is a time for increased worship and daily fasting from dawn to sunset.

Umrah is often referred to as the lesser or minor pilgrimage and can be performed year-round, unlike the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Hajj, one of the pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime for every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it.

Pilgrim Majid Mughal, 52, who’s visiting Saudi Arabia with his family from the United States, said “we consider coming to the sacred land as a calling from Allah, and during this sacred month of Ramadan, I think, it is highly recommended to come and visit if you can.”

Had he known that war would break out, however, he said he would have canceled. Mughal and his family learned of the strikes while in transit to Saudi Arabia, and some passengers on other routes got stranded at the airport, but his flight proceeded normally, he added.

“So far, everything is OK, thank God. There (are) no problems here," he said during his visit. “There are lots of people during the Ramadan time. I see security as usual,” he said, adding: "We do feel safe.”

The family is trying to focus on the religious rituals, as well as fasting, praying and bonding, but it’s also been hard to disconnect from the news and they have to reassure those back home that they’re OK, Mughal said.

And then there's concern about their travel home.

“We are checking the flight details, the departure details almost daily just to make sure the flights are still operating,” he said, noting his children have to return to school and he has to go back to work.

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Fam reported from Cairo and Ng from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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