TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the Hajj Management Agency (BP Haji), Mochammad Irfan Yusuf, announced that there will be no reduction in Indonesia's hajj quota for the 2026 pilgrimage. He confirmed that during a meeting last week between President Prabowo Subianto and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which Irfan attended, the subject of a quota reduction was not discussed.

"The Minister of Religious Affairs conveyed, 'We fully believe in the new management of hajj in Indonesia,' so they will not reduce our hajj quota," Irfan said after a working meeting with Commission VIII of the House of Representatives in Jakarta.

He further noted that Indonesia's hajj quota for next year will remain at 221,000 pilgrims, consistent with this year's allocation. The Gerindra Party politician also assured that there would be no reduction in the maximum age limit for prospective hajj pilgrims, which currently stands at 103 years old.

The issue of reducing the maximum age limit for prospective hajj pilgrims was previously raised by Hilman Latief, Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organizers (PHU) at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Hilman had indicated that the Saudi Arabian government might limit the percentage of pilgrims aged 70 or 80 and set a maximum age limit of 90 years for hajj pilgrims.

"There is a new policy that we heard about yesterday regarding age limitation. But I want to receive the official letter, and they said they are in the process of sending it to us, particularly regarding pilgrims above 90 years old," Hilman said.

However, according to Irfan Yusuf, the high number of Indonesian hajj pilgrims who died or fell ill during the 2025 pilgrimage was not solely attributable to age. "Even though many of our hajj pilgrims are elderly, we strive to ensure that they are physically capable and in good health," he explained.

During the 2025 pilgrimage, 418 Indonesian hajj pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Imran, Head of the Health Department of the Indonesian Hajj Pilgrimage Organizing Committee (PPIH) in Saudi Arabia, confirmed that the majority of these deaths were due to heart disease and acute ischemic heart disorders.

A member of the Hajj Supervisory Team of the DPR, Edy Wuryanto, mentioned that the high death toll among Indonesian pilgrims was a point of criticism from the Saudi government. "The input from the Saudi government must be taken seriously. They even raised a tough question: 'Why do you send pilgrims here only for them to die?'" Edy was quoted as saying in an official statement on the DPR's website on Friday, June 13, 2025.

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