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(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia this week turned back more than 1,000 Nigerian women pilgrims who were not accompanied by male guardians or "mahram."

Saudi's Ministry of Pilgrimage (Hajj) released a statement on Friday defending its decision, saying that it will "not allow the entry ... of those who don't comply with terms and requirements of the entry visa to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj."

Saudi law requires each female pilgrim under the age of 45 years to have a male sponsor during the pilgrimage journey, regardless of nationality.

"This rule is applied to all women in general who want to get an entry visa to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj," pilgrimage ministry spokesman Hatim bin Hassan Qadhi said in the statement.
Explain it to me: The Hajj

So far, there has been no official explanation from Nigerian authorities on what might have happened.

The last of the women arrived Friday night in Kano, Nigeria, after being stranded for four to five days at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport, Nigeria's state-run News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported, quoting several women.

"This is the most dehumanizing situation I have ever experienced in my life," one arriving female, who did not want to be named, told NAN.

Another woman, Binta Malami, said she traveled with her husband but was denied entry to Saudi Arabia because her husband's name did not correspond to the name written in her passport, the news agency said. Her husband decided to return with his wife in protest of an "inhumane" treatment.

Saudi authorities denied any ill treatment.

The Ministry of Hajj stressed in its statement that the Saudi government is keen "on receiving the pilgrims from all over the world with ease and comfort in accordance with the applicable instructions."

Most international pilgrims arrive in Jeddah via air or sea, then make their way to the nearby mountainous city of Mecca to perform the Islamic pilgrimage rites.

Nigeria started flying its citizens back home on Thursday after sending a delegation, led by speaker of the House of Representatives Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, to discuss the incident with Saudi officials, NAN reported.

Alhaji Hamman-Adama Tukur, one of the Nigerian clerics who helped the stranded women in Jeddah, told NAN that the women were actually accompanied by male escorts, but that the checking system at the Jeddah airport was such that men were checked, cleared and asked to proceed.

"When it was the women's turn to be checked and cleared, the security claimed they were not accompanied by their guardians -- mahram -- and were unwilling to listen to any explanation.''

Saudi officials normally separate men and women upon arrival as they check passports and paperwork.

Islam requires every Muslim, who is capable physically and financially, to perform Hajj in Mecca, where the Saudi government says it receives almost 3 million pilgrims over a period of about 10 days every year.

And this is news worthy because.....?

It's their fault, how could you not know you need a mahram to go hajj or umrah

TeAmo wrote:And this is news worthy because.....?

Go email CNN and ask them that question.

quoting CNN on muslim reltated issues

It's not only being reported by CNN. Hundreds of others such as Reuters, AFP and countless others have articles on it. What's wrong with CNN? It's not like its Wagacusub or SomalilandPress or some other clan website with no credibility.

is this place in Nigeria or SA? looks like n animal processing plant (not the ppl)

of course this happened but come on cnn you might as well read fox news while your at it.

lol waryaa, this was the caption of the picture on the CNN website

Nigerian Hajj pilgrims leave the airport after being denied entry by Saudi Arabian officials.

It's ultimately a good decision, but, hopefully they will be recompensed.

Cumar-Labasuul wrote:of course this happened but come on cnn you might as well read fox news while your at it.

CNN anchors defend Muslims and Islam all the time. Fredricka Whitfield, Don Lemon, Brooke Baldwin, Piers Morgan, Anderson Cooper, Fareed Zakaria. Just last week, I witnessed Erin Burnett arguing with a anti-Islam guest who was responsible in putting up the anti-Islam posters in the NYC subway system even after it was approved by the NYC Transit. She said what she did was wrong and it hurts Muslims. I am not sure why people call CNN anti Islam and not to be trusted.

there is rules they need to follow. for their safety in wah walba la nedamiyo weeye. i just know how much im privileged. Alhamdullilah.

InvisibleHand wrote:lol waryaa, this was the caption of the picture on the CNN website

Nigerian Hajj pilgrims leave the airport after being denied entry by Saudi Arabian officials.

tnx inv - it caught my eye

Those pilgrims could've been Shaficis. According to Imam Al Shaafi'i {r.a} a Mahrem is not required. They can travel with a group of women. This is so sad, they spent all that money and they already reached their destination , why not just let them continue? especially since there are varying opinions on this amongst the scholars?

I don't mean to go off topic but when I went to Hajj few years ago, there were so many west african women in and around the mina area. They would sell bariis that they cook outside and around them are all these small children I presume are their kids and wallahi their children would pretend to be decapitated in order get some begging money - the children would fold their arms inside their sleeves and display their elbows thereby imitating someone without limbs. Anyway during this whole time I was wondering where their men were at. It seems a lot of people come with fake mahrams in order to reach sacuudiga and then they would dissapear.

btw, they aren't the only ones almost all the people living illegally in sacuudiga came with an umrah or hajj visa and then dissapear.

hajj is above their man made instruction