After Govt of India changed rules on Saudi lines, over 1,300 women travelled for Haj without a mehram in 2018. This number is set to double next year.
New Delhi: A year after the Government of India permitted women above 45 years of age to go on the Haj pilgrimage without a mehram (husband or close male blood relative whom she cannot be married to), the number of applicants has nearly doubled.
In 2018, about 1,300 women availed of the opportunity, and for 2019, the Haj Committee of India has already received 2,500 applications, even before the deadline of 19 December. Of these applicants, 90 per cent are from Kerala. Even in 2018, more than 1,100 of the 1,300 women to undertake the pilgrimage without mehrams were from the southern state.
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Religious and legal position
Islamic law doesn’t allow women to go on Haj without a mehram. In fact, such a pilgrimage is considered unfulfilled.
However, in 2014, the government of Saudi Arabia had scrapped the rule for women over 45, allowing them to travel together in groups without a mehram. They do, however, have to submit a notarised no-objection letter from their husbands, sons or brothers, authorising them to travel for Haj with the named group.
India followed suit in 2017, allowing women over 45 to travel for Haj in groups of four, on the basis of the recommendations of the Afzal Amanullah Committee, which was constituted to review the earlier Haj policy.
The recommendations were accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the first batch of 1,300 women without mehrams went for Haj in 2018.
However, the decision had led to a widespread debate about its acceptability under Islamic law.
Why an increase in applicants?
According to Mohsin Ali, deputy executive officer of the Haj Committee of India, the number of women applicants without mehram has increased because from Haj 2019, the lottery system used earlier has been done away with. Instead, all the applicants will be given a chance.
Besides, he pointed out, for the last five years, the percentage of women going with mehrams/families has been around 45 per cent, touching a high of 47 per cent in 2018 and bettering it by another per cent in 2019.
The number of Indian Muslims who go for Haj annually ranges between 1.25 lakh to 1.75 lakh.
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The Kerala factor
Asked why 90 per cent of women without mehrams hailed from Kerala, the Kerala Haj Committee said the reason was unclear, but could have something to do with the greater sense of independence women from the state enjoy.
The fact that many of their husbands work in the Gulf countries could also be a factor.