"The Hajj is for those who have come closer to power!"

In the past, tens or even hundreds of years ago, pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah was only possible for those with physical and financial ability. Pilgrims from various states and emirates would gather in capitals and large cities, then embark in caravans of camels and horses that could include thousands of pilgrims, with others joining along the way for companionship and safety. The journey would take many months, and the ruling authorities in the land of the two Holy Mosques did not impose any restrictions, conditions, or visas. The pilgrimage was for whoever could undertake the journey.

Later on, the number of pilgrims increased steadily with the advent of modern transportation. In the mid-19th century, steamships started to be used for the pilgrimage journey to Mecca, increasing the number of pilgrims traveling by sea. In the early 20th century, Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II built the Hejaz Railway between Damascus and Medina, facilitating the pilgrimage journey as pilgrims traveled relatively easily and reached the Hejaz in a few days. Despite the railway being damaged during World War I and its usage ceasing, the number of pilgrims did not decrease. Instead, it increased significantly with the introduction of cars and airplanes, making the routes to the Holy Land closer and easier.

In the 1980s, with the tremendous increase in the number of pilgrims and concerns about Saudi Arabia's ability to accommodate the huge numbers of those wishing to perform the pilgrimage, the quota system was adopted for the first time following approval during a meeting of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. This system, agreed upon by the attendees, allocated a specific quota for each Islamic country, set at 1,000 pilgrims per million Muslim inhabitants. This ratio has remained unchanged to this day, limiting the number of Libyan pilgrims to no more than seven thousand each year.

With the number of those wishing and able to perform the rituals far exceeding the allocated quota, most countries, including Libya, adopted a lottery system among those wishing to go on pilgrimage. Conditions were set, such as not performing the pilgrimage more than once in five years, a specific age requirement for entering the lottery, and others. Although the lottery was held in mosques on the night of the 27th of Ramadan each year, it was not free from accusations of favoritism, nepotism, and manipulation. The conditions did not apply to everyone, as there were always exceptions and privileges for some influential people and their relatives. Many irregularities occurred over the years, such as removing people's names and replacing them with others, even to the extent of removing pilgrims from the plane to make way for someone influential with connections. Some people narrate that victims of this discriminatory treatment died in sorrow after seeing their lifelong dream evaporate in moments because another person had been promised the pilgrimage by a notable, and a notable never breaks their promise, even on the last flights!

Despite all the previous violations and breaches, what has happened in the last three years is unprecedented on all levels. The state decided, in a strange and unprecedented move, to hold the pilgrimage lottery for three consecutive years at once. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting the pilgrimage that year to pilgrims from within Saudi Arabia, without receiving pilgrims from outside. The lists of winning pilgrims from the previous year, who could not perform the rituals due to the pandemic, accumulated, causing confusion that the Libyan pilgrimage authorities claim to have finally controlled after four years of the pandemic. They announced that pilgrims from past years delayed by this confusion would be completed this year and that the next year's pilgrimage lottery would be complete without additions from the previous years' delays.

With this confusion and complaints from people about not being able to enter the lottery or being delayed for years despite winning the lottery, hundreds, perhaps more, perform the pilgrimage each year without any lottery or other requirements. Relatives of the state's minister, acquaintances of the prime minister, neighbors of the head of this or that agency, and others and others, hundreds of people perform the pilgrimage annually simply because they are relatives, neighbors, or acquaintances of the minister's or president's entourage, while the simple people are deprived even of entering the lottery. To make matters worse, the prime minister intervened three years ago and initiated a bad precedent by covering the expenses of all pilgrims at the state's expense, as if state funds were his to spend as he pleases. 

This measure is problematic on all levels. Firstly, the delay in announcing it prevented thousands of ordinary people from entering the lottery because they could not afford the pilgrimage costs. If they had known that 'Ali Baba' would cover the expenses, they would not have hesitated to enter the lottery. Thus, this year's pilgrimage is for both the able and unable alike.

Secondly, many of the pilgrims in recent years were from the quotas of ministries, agencies, councils, and institutions. These individuals, in addition to performing the pilgrimage through favoritism and nepotism, are well-off and do not need the state to cover their expenses. 

Thirdly, this decision burdens any future government with the responsibility of canceling it. After years of receiving a certain benefit, people will consider it a fundamental right. If the Government of Return to Life continues in power for years to come, the state's coverage of pilgrimage expenses will become the norm, and reverting to what Allah Almighty has legislated, that pilgrimage is for those who are able, will be seen as heresy worthy of toppling the government.

Previous and subsequent governments have perfected corrupting people's worldly lives and oppressing them. When they felt they had succeeded in that, they began to corrupt their religion, starting with manipulating the pilgrimage lists and adding hundreds of people each year under the pretext of not holding the lottery, even though they are the reason for not holding it. Even assuming the lottery could not be held for genuine, non-fabricated reasons, who gives ministers and militia leaders the right to obtain a certain number of visas each year to distribute as they see fit? Why do the minister's relatives and acquaintances get to perform the pilgrimage while those whose hearts are attached to it and have lived with the dream of performing it are deprived? Some may die in sorrow because they do not know a high-ranking official or do not have a minister in their tribe. Scholars have issued detailed fatwas in the past and present about the permissibility of pilgrimage through connections and relationships, which is not hidden from anyone. Those who receive a free pilgrimage visa at their doorstep through the flattery of a God-fearing official who does not fulfill his duty of trust may not be blamed. However, do the thieving ministers feel no shame? They have amassed great wealth from state funds in record times. Isn't that enough for them? Why can't they leave people's religion alone? Why can't one be content with a position that opens the treasury of millions without accountability and not exceed it to pilgrimage visas to the House of Allah, which they distribute to those they flatter, hoping to gain additional benefits or register favors for future needs? 

Corruption has eroded the pillars of the state from all sides, to the point where it is about to collapse on our heads. Having exhausted all worldly pillars, corruption has turned to the pillars of religion, introducing bribery, favoritism, nepotism, and theft of people's rights into them. It seems to be saying, "I have corrupted their worldly lives, and they did not stop me, so today I corrupt their afterlife as well."