KUCHING: Muslims in Sarawak need to be more vigilant if they intend to perform the pilgrimage to avoid fraud.
Deputy Minister of Utilities and Telecommunications (Utility) Datuk Dr. Abdul Rahman Junaidi said that fraud should not happen in Malaysia.
“We feel sad because there are frauds involving the pilgrimage in this country,” he said.
He said this after performing the Sacrificial Ceremony in Kampung Bintawa Tengah here today.
Dr Abdul Rahman was asked to comment on reports of hajj fraud involving Muslims in Malaysia.
It follows the disclosure of a 51-second video on Facebook on Wednesday that showed the actions of a group of men who used the services of ‘actors’ to show evidence that the pilgrimage had been performed.
Sheets of paper purportedly as proof that the worship was performed were also seen littered around the Jabal Rahmah area, Makkah, thrown away by the group involved with names from various countries including Malaysia.
Badal hajj or change of hajj means that a person who has performed Hajj for himself can perform Hajj for someone else, whether he has died or is sick and there is no hope of recovery to perform Hajj.
According to Dr Abdul Rahman, the agency entrusted to perform the badal hajj must perform the worship with trust.
“We hope that in the future, this kind of fraud will not happen because it can cause anxiety among the congregation and their families,” he said.
Regarding the sacrificial worship, he explained, it was a platform to strengthen friendship among members of the community.
“We have practiced this culture for a long time. We hope that in the future we can continue to hold programmes like this through mutual cooperation,” he explained.
