France’s Muslim Council recommends French defer this year’s hajj to 2021

The French Muslim Council (CFCM) has recommended that the country’s Muslims scheduled to perform the hajj this year postpone it to 2021 due to the pandemic.

The CFCM is a national elected body and the official intermediary of the French Muslim community with the government in the regulation of Muslim religious activities in the country.

“Given the tight deadline to the start of the pilgrimage and the lack of official information from the Saudi authorities as well as unknown conditions with regards the opening of international borders (quarantine dates etc), the CFCM strongly recommends that Muslims in France postpone their pilgrimage to next year,” CFCM president Mohammed Moussaoui said in a statement in French on Thursday (June 11).

If the hajj is to go on this year, it will start around July 28, which is less than 45 days from today. 

The CFCM also advised prospective French pilgrims not to engage with any hajj operators especially if any downpayments are involved. Insurance will not be able to cover an event of a cancellation, it said.

CFCM's recommendation for its prospective pilgrims comes after hajj authorities of several countries cancelled this year’s pilgrimage for their nationals, including South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

As a body, the CFCM does not function as a national body that overlooks French Muslims’ pilgrimage services such as the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Indonesia or the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.

2,489,406 pilgrims performed the hajj in 2019, with 75%, or 1,855,027 coming from abroad, according to data from Saudi’s General Authority for Statistics.

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