London Central Mosque Trust & The Islamic Cultural Centre

MINA, MAKKAH: I am very fortunate enough this year to be invited by king Abdullah and now we have been doing the rituals of Hajj according to the arrangements provided by the royal protocol. Because I have done a lot of Hajj before and I have seen a lot of hardships during the Hajj; so now at an advanced age I so much appreciate all these facilities that have been given to us which has made our Hajj very easy that I thank Allah the Almighty first of all He has given me once again this life opportunity and secondly I thank the Saudi Monarch because of whom w are able to come for Hajj this year because there were no planning whatsoever to come for Hajj but suddenly out of blue they came invitation and within days all the things were prepared and we come here and we have been received by Royal Protocol in the Airport and straight away we were taken to Jeddah Guest Palace for all the guests and after performing our Umrah at Masjid al-Haram which was done also in a very easy way we were also given an opportunity.

What I can say that the facilities which are provided to us they are because we are guest but the facilities that are provided to pilgrims they are in general are enormous, so big that no person could imagine what is the state of affair now in comparison with what it was in thirty years ago. We also remember that many time some of the tents caught fire and then many people have been burnt alive. That was these tents did not have all these precautionary measures which can stop the fire to stop.

Revolutionary Development in transportation in Holy Sites - British Muslim VIP Guest Leader
Revolutionary development in the transportation in the Holy sites, said the leader of the VIP Guests from the UK, Dr. Ahmad al-Dubayan, Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre, London and mentioned about the services that are provided here. "The authorities here did the best for us, to welcome us, to facilitate our Hajj. As regards the hospitality I have to admire the hospitality we have seen in accommodation, in food, in transport and in everything and these are something that we have to thank."

Every year King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, invites Muslims from different parts of the world to perform Hajj as Royal guest. So far 18,000 Muslims from around the globe have performed Hajj during the past years as guests of King Abdullah. This year Hajj 2011 "King Abdullah will host 1,400 pilgrims from around the globe," said Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs. Out of 1,400 pilgrims invited by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, 30 are from the United Kingdom.

This year 2011 the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has invited 30 Muslims from the United Kingdom. At the same time, there are another 20 guests who are actually hosted by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of Saudi Arabia. So this year there are 50 guest altogether from the United Kingdom - 30 VIP and 20 from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

This 30 invited Royal guests include Muslim leaders; those who are people of influence, those who also serve the Muslim community, Ulema and religious scholars of different religious schools of thought in the UK. Among these VIP people are some politicians, such as Lord Mohammad Sheikh and his wife, Lady Sheikh, from the Conservative Party. There is Baroness Uddin from the House of Lords and Shahid Malik, the former Communities Minister from the Labour Party.

Similarly, the Muslim scholars are from different major groups of the Muslim organizations in the UK, for example, some scholars from Ahle-Hadith, some scholars of Deobandis, there are some scholars from other organizations.

These 30 guests of the Royal Protocol are British nationals, they are Muslim leaders, Muslim scholars and media people and some politicians; but as regards their ethnicity and cultural heritage, they are Muslims of different cultural heritage, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Muslims from Saudi Arabia itself, Muslims from Tunisia and many other countries.

Similarly, the other guests with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs are those groups of people who are really playing an important role in the Muslim unity and giving service to the Muslim community. They are British nationals but of different ethnic origins.

The leader of this VIP Guests from the UK, Dr. al-Dubayan, said, "This year there is a message. And that message of Hajj is a message of Peace. Hajj is an occasion of more dialogue and better relationship. The Hajj in Makkah is really the biggest demonstration of peace in the world. The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom, His Royal Highness Mohammad bin Nawaf actually has the same concern and that's why Muslims from different religious schools of thought, people of different ethnic origins come together to demonstrate the message of Hajj and also of good relations and better chance of dialogue among themselves and also with the scholars of Saudi Arabia."