Islamic Ministry says President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih sent a letter to King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdul Azeez asking for more Hajj quota to the Maldives two years back.
The Kingdom usually gives a quota of around 1000 to the Maldives but with the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia had given just 453 spots to the Maldives last Hajj season.
In a clarification to a query made by the MP for Maafannu Medhuru Constituency Ibrahim Rasheed via a written reply, the Islamic Minister Dr. Ahmed Zahir said that President Solih had appealed to the Saudi King to give the Maldives an additional 1,500 spots in a letter sent to the Kingdom two years back. He said that the letter was sent in Arabic and the President had asked for a total of 2,500 spots for the annual hajj corporation.
The Minister said that the Islamic Ministry had asked the President's Office whether or not the Saudi government had given an official response to the letter and that it had attempted to get a response via the Foreign Ministry too.
But the Minister stopped short of saying whether the President's Office or the Foreign Ministry had answered the Islamic Ministry's queries or not.
The MP had also asked why the Ministry had not announced the names of those who were chosen to go on the Pilgrimage via the draw made.
The Minister said that only the ID card numbers of those selected were published to make sure it known that they were chosen without publicizing any other personal information.
