The Spiritual Leader of the United Council of Imams and a member of the Hajj
Committee which is responsible for coordinating hajj affairs and transporting
pilgrims, Sheikh Ahmad Tejan Sillah, says Sierra Leonean pilgrims are performing
the Hajj safely and described it as one of the most organised trips to the Holy
Land.
Speaking to The Patriotic Vanguard Freetown Bureau from Saudi via cellular
phone, the Imam says Sierra Leone has a total of nine hundred and twenty
pilgrims this year. He says almost all of them are in good health and have not
encountered any serious problem while performing their Hajj.
The Chief Imam
attributed the success of this years’ trip to the Minister of Social Welfare,
whose ministry is responsible for religious affairs. According to him, it is
the minister’s ingenuity in organising the trip that helped enhanced
success and its actualization without causing any hindrance, disappointment
or suffering to the pilgrims. He also lauded President Ernest Bai Koroma for his
support and assistance to the Hajj Committee, which, according to him, enhanced
the successful conveyance of the pilgrims to the Holy Land. He says Sierra
Leoneans have joined the rest of the pilgrims from other parts of the world to
observe and perform the Eid ul
Adha.
Sheikh Sillah expresseed conviction that there is hope for post -war Sierra
Leone. He says, “We in the Committee are praying for sustainable development and
peace in Sierra Leone and we wish more prosperity for our nation”.
Over the
years private handling of hajj affairs usually ended in disappointments, fraud
and frustration to pilgrims some of whom ended not making the trip. But since
the government took over coordinating and handling hajj trips, there have been
fewer problems save but a few complaints over certain omissions by some members of the Committee in the past.
Social Welfare Minister Moijue Kaikai in Saudi Arabia with the pilgrims.
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