Wealthy pilgrims offered VIP services

Wealthy pilgrims offered VIP services Anwar Al-Sayed | Arab News

Some affluent pilgrims choose to perform the Haj in the comfort of luxurious tents offered to them in Mina and Arafat. (AN photo)   MAKKAH: Pilgrims looking for distinguished service can find what they want in luxurious tents in Mina and Arafat. A number of local and foreign companies have introduced the VIP service to lure wealthy pilgrims. "The VIP service is primarily based on ensuring the pilgrim the privacy he is looking for amid an atmosphere of calm and serenity that will enable him or her concentrate on worship," said Zaki Kamal Hussein, a mutawif (a Haj tour guide). He said the domestic and foreign Haj companies and tourist offices usually target this category of people because they represent a good source of income. "Though they are few in number, yet we must give them much emphasis because they can add to our gains," Hussein said. He did not specify how much a VIP Haj would cost. Asked about the difference between the ordinary and the VIP service, the mutawif explained that the later is a professional service that is characterized by distinction and privacy. "It means transporting them in luxurious buses, providing them with hotel services, giving them special meals that are suitable to their tastes and health condition and accommodating them in spacious tents with luxurious furniture," he said. Hussein said the VIP pilgrims would have clean toilets that are both cozy and hygienic in addition to medical doctors and nurses to look after their health. "There are special playgrounds for children with amusement games and educational programs conducted by specialized female educationalists to keep them busy while their rich parents perform their duties," he added. Thamir Abdul Rahman Muallim, who is heading an office providing VIP services, said he and his team were keen to provide the atmosphere for the pilgrims to spend their time in spirituality and serenity away from the incessant occupations of daily life. "We provide them with top hotel service and ensure their families with the privacy they are looking for," he said. Mustapha Rajab, an Egyptian investor living in Britain, said he chose the VIP pilgrimage to ensure himself with the comfort necessary for the performance of Haj and to have an atmosphere of privacy away from the noise and air pollution especially with the swine flu pandemic. He said his mutawif has provided him with a velvet bag containing cleaned and sterilized stones with which to pebble the pillars symbolizing Satan. "The mutawif has spared me the trouble of collecting these stones from Muzdalifah," he added. Sheikh Muhammad Owais, an imam of a mosque in Kent and the chairman of a welfare organization in Britain, said he has chosen the VIP service because it allows him to concentrate on the performance of the Haj and keep him away from the crowds in addition to the hotel service in food, accommodation and transport. "The VIP service enables me to feel more the sanctity of the place and protects me against anything that might violate my pilgrimage," he said. Some critics of luxury Haj services say renting special accommodations by wealthier pilgrims is antithetical to the spirit of the pilgrimage. One of the purposes of wearing the ihram, for example, is to eliminate distinctions among the pilgrims.