The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, has reaffirmed his country’s rejection of the exploitation of the Haj season to serve political agendas or intensify ideological differences.
The king stressed the importance of fighting and rejecting all forms of extremism which are threatening the security of Islamic nations.
“Some parts of the Islamic world are seeing tension and disputes; therefore, utmost efforts should be exerted to achieve unification,” the king said at an annual reception held yesterday to honour senior figures who performed their Haj.
He urged Islamic nations to relentlessly combat extremist ideologies that are hurtful to Islam and Muslims everywhere.
More than 1.8mn faithful from around the world have been attending the annual pilgrimage which officially ends tomorrow.
“Serving the guests of God is an honour for us,” King Salman told the gathering. “God almighty orders that Haj be performed by all Muslims without distinction.”
Meanwhile, Prince Khalid al-Faisal, adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and governor of the Makkah region, has said that Saudi Arabia will not allow using Haj for any political slogans or trends.
Saudi news agency SPA quoted al-Faisal, who is the chairman of Haj Central Committee, as saying: “There has been calls for internationalising the supervision of Haj (pilgrimage), but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated - since its foundation to nowadays - that it has the capabilities and competencies to manage this holy Islamic occasion and to offer the best services to the pilgrims.”
He said: “Through history, the pilgrims have never been provided with services like those offered in these years. The kingdom  is providing these services in order to receive the reward from Allah Almighty and to perform its duties towards the Muslims who come to this holy place every year.”