Spousal, parental consent mandatory for women on Hajj

The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Tuesday said that women intending to go on Hajj this year but not granted permission by their husbands or parents to do so will not be able to perform the pilgrimage. 

The statement has been released after Hajj applications for 2025 have closed. 

Dawn quotes the 2025 Hajj Policy, which clearly states that women will be able to travel to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage alone after fulfilling the conditions set by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

The conditions laid out by the Council quoted in the document says, “As per the decision of the Council of Islamic Ideology taken in its session no. 232 held on 6th and 7th June 2023, female pilgrim (without mehram) shall be allowed for Haj subject to the conditions that: a) She has been allowed by her parents, and in case of married, by her husband. b) She will have a group of reliable female pilgrims and there is no threat to her dignity.”
The practice has already been happening in the country as women were not allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia alone in the past. 

The document further stated that children below 12 will not be allowed to go for Hajj and the immunisation of vaccines approved by Saudi Arabia are also mandatory for everyone intending to come this year.

Notably, as per the policies of Saudi Arabia, any woman can come for Hajj alone. The move first surfaced in 2021 as part of a campaign by the de-facto Saudi leader Prince Mohammad bin Salman in an attempt to improve the rights of women in the country.

The CII lifted all restrictions and allowed women to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah without a male companion. 

Moreover, this year, Pakistanis are allotted a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims by the Saudi government. 

Approximately 89,602 people will be performing the Hajj under the government scheme, while the rest will perform it through private tour operators in 2025.