The executive secretary, Kwara Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abdulsalam Abdulkadir, has said that 2,150 intending pilgrims from Kwara are set for the 2025 Hajj exercise.

Mr Abdulkadir said this at the enlightenment  and special prayer programme  held for all 2025 intending pilgrims from Kwara on Sunday in Ilorin.

He said that less than 30 people were yet to complete their payment for the exercise.

He, therefore, gave them two days grace, from April 20 to April 22, to pay  after which they would close the portal for the year.

“We are waiting for them to complete their payments before the date, after which we will refund their money,” Mr Abdulkadir said.

He said that Hajj is not a tourism affair but an exercise that requires good intention.

The executive secretary charged the intending pilgrims from the state to be good ambassadors of the state and the country at large.

In his remarks, the 2025 Amirul-Hajj and the Olupo of Ajase-Ipo, Oba Ismail Yahaya, advised the intending pilgrims to be patient while in Saudi Arabia. 

He also urged them to dissociate themselves from the social media to make the exercise acceptable to Allah.

Mr Yahaya commended Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara for making necessary facilities available to ensure a hitch-free Hajj exercise

Also speaking, the chairman of the board, Mashood Mahmud-Jimba, appreciated the state government for putting in place the necessary machinery to ensure a hitch-free exercise. 

In his lecture, the Grand Khadi, Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Abdullateef Kamaldeen, represented by Imam Kamaldeen Shefiulahi, charged the intending pilgrims to have the fear of Allah before, during and after the exercise.

Leading the other Muslim scholars at the special prayer, the Imam Imale of Ilorin, Abdullahi Abdulhamid, prayed for the successful Hajj exercise.

He added that the Hajj exercise is not by power but by the will of Allah.

 (NAN)