JAKARTA. The former chairman of the country’s largest Muslim organization, Nadlatul Ulama, Hasyim Muzadi, is calling on the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) to issue a religious edict prohibiting people from taking haj pilgrimages repeatedly.

“This is for the sake of the ummah [Muslim community]. Those who have taken the pilgrimage should give their brothers who have not performed it the chance. From what I observe, many haj pilgrims want to take the pilgrimage again,” he said Wednesday in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The call for the MUI to issue a ban on repeated haj trips was first raised by Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin over his concerns about the long waiting list for the pilgrimage.

Currently, there are nearly 2 million Indonesians on the list, with only 155,200 of them able to take the journey this year. Lukman suggested that with the proposed edict the ministry could significantly reduce the waiting list.

The MUI, however, rejected Lukman’s proposal, saying that the onus was on the ministry to issue a ban on repeated haj pilgrimages.

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie