Manama: The 1,500 Qatar-based foreigners selected to perform Haj (pilgrimage) this year have one week to complete the formalities, the endowments and Islamic affairs ministry has said.
"SMS have been sent to those who have been chosen to perform Haj this year," Mohammad Bin Hasan Al Maliki, a ministry official, said.
"Now, they have to go the Haj operator to complete the formalities within a week," he said, quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula.
According to the ministry figures, 11,548 non-Qataris applied to perform Haj this year, and they include 1,988 applicants from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and 9,560 applicants from other countries.
However, only 1,500 people have been selected through an electronic process.
The figure is based on the pilgrimage quota determined for Qatar under a scheme introduced in the 1970s to help deal with the increasingly high number of people who apply to go to pilgrimage in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
"In case there is an additional quota, the remaining applicants will be given a second chance through the same electronic selection process," the ministry said.
Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is required from every physically-able Muslim at least once in their lifetime if he or she can financially afford it.
