President Prabowo Will Conduct 2026 Hajj Diplomacy With Saudi Arabia

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to make an official visit to Saudi Arabia in the near future, as part of bilateral diplomacy efforts in the field of Hajj.

The visit will later strengthen the protection of Indonesian pilgrims and increase the effectiveness of the Hajj organization system in the future.

"Hajj diplomacy will be explained directly by President Prabowo. It would be unethical if I preceded. But God willing, we will leave it to him," said Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar in Jeddah, Tuesday, June 17, as reported by ANTARA.

Nasaruddin Umar said that hajj diplomacy is an important part in building strategic cooperation between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, especially in strengthening service governance and the system for implementing the pilgrimage.

In general, the implementation of the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage was emphasized by the Minister of Religion to take place in an orderly and more controlled manner.

The movement of pilgrims from Makkah to Jeddah and Medina went according to plan without any significant disturbances. The distribution system and data collection of pilgrims are considered to be neater after adjustments made at the early stages of arrival.

"Alhamdulillah, everything is going well now. We have found the pattern, so there are no more obstacles in the movement of the congregation, either to Medina or to Jeddah," he said.

Transportation in Makkah, which serves shuttles to the Grand Mosque, operates throughout the day, providing flexibility for pilgrims to worship.

Meanwhile, all hotels contracted in Medina are very close to the average Prophet's Mosque within a radius of 500 meters, making it easier to carry out worship optimally.

According to Amirulhaj's report, Indonesian pilgrims have completed the entire series of Hajj services. For pilgrims who are in conditions that are not possible, including two people who have not been found, the committee has officially carried out the hajj badal.

"There is not a single one of our worshipers who does not carry out the pilgrimage. Everything has been handled, including those who are prayed because they are sick or have not been found," explained Nazaruddin.

The consumption service is also considered satisfactory. Some people report that the food provided is abundant and is consistently available. This is an important indicator that the improvement of logistics services runs on the expected track.

Although in general the implementation of this year's Hajj is under control, the government still records several things that will be evaluated.

Some of these notes include data differences between the Indonesian system and sharia, the placement of congregations that have not been fully balanced in Mina's tent, as well as delays in providing food in several hotels in the early phase.

The communication of data is very important. This must be strengthened. Placement of congregation and logistics distribution must also be more precise and capacity-appropriate," said Nazaruddin.

Regarding the multi-syrah system implemented this year, the government will conduct a thorough evaluation after the return phase is complete.

According to Nasaruddin, systems with many service providers have advantages and challenges, and the most important thing is how the communication and data integration run well.

If the system is stable and coordination runs smoothly, he continued, then the number of sharia is not the main problem.

The government is committed to compiling a comprehensive evaluation report as a basis for improvement for the implementation of the 2026 Hajj. President Prabowo's diplomatic support will be an important element in the process.