The 63-year-old mother of two boys and three girls had always dreamed of making the spiritual journey and visiting the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah.

The dream still remains far-fetched.
"Visiting the holy lands is becoming more and more impossible day in and day out," Um Khalid told IslamOnline.net.

"It’s only for the rich to make this most exalted journey. As for the poor, they can only dream."

Saudi Arabia, which for years used to give Egypt 50,000 free-of-charge hajj visas, increased the number to 70,000 last year.

"The principal idea is for hajj to be free for all people," Hedayah Salman, a Saudi journalist and activist, told IOL.

"The certain fact is that the Saudi government doesn’t charge people for performing this important Islamic rite."

Yet, Egyptians have to pay an arm and a leg to get one of the hajj visas.
A few years ago, an Egyptian had to cough up about LE20,000 ($3,636) to perform the hajj.

Now the journey to the holy lands may cost between LE40,000 ($7,272) and LE80,000 ($14,545), depending on the standard of accommodation, services, and food offered.

This is far too much compared to other countries, including wealthy Gulf countries.

In Kuwait, for example, hajj costs between $2,000 and $3,000, according to Shoaa el-Qati, a Kuwaiti journalist.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim — who can financially afford the trip — must perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, at least once in a lifetime.
Hajj Cake

Tour operators link the rise in hajj costs to many reasons including higher airfares accommodation in Makkah.

But others admit a deeper problem.
"There’re many who fight to get their share of the hajj cake every year," a tour operator told IOL, speaking on conditions of anonymity for fear of antagonizing officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.

"Tour operators, the government and middlemen work tooth and nail every year to suck pilgrims dry of money."

There are about 1,500 tour operators in Egypt, including 900 which organize hajj journeys.

They receive 20 free visas each every year.
While they pay nothing, tour operators charge their clients about LE12,000 ($2,181) per visa.

"This means that a tour operator can easily earn LE240,000 ($43,636) from selling these visas every year," said the tour operator.

Very recently, the Ministry of Tourism decided to do the job itself.
Instead of giving the hajj visas out to tour operators, the ministry had decided to sell a chunk of them to generate extra revenues.

Tourism experts estimate the Ministry generates about LE120,000,000 ($21,631) from selling hajj visas.

This leaves Um Khalid, the 63-year-old mother of five who has tried to save up enough money over the years to be able to perform the pilgrimage one day, in the same dilemma.

"Sometimes I lose hope," she fumes, noting that whenever she reaches a certain figure, the actual cost of hajj soars even higher.

"But I’ll continue to dream of hajj to my last breath."

IOL