Indonesia’s different mahram system sends more women than men to haj
Photo: Indonesian haj pilgrims wave as they board their flight at the airport in Solo, Central Java province, Indonesia September 17, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. REUTERS/Aloysius Jarot Nugroho/Antara Foto
While men represent around 55 percent of all haj pilgrims every year, Indonesia has created a way to consistently send more of its women to the pilgrimage
Indonesia annually contributes the largest portion of haj pilgrims. 154,441 Indonesians went to the haj in 2016, and bucking the global average of around 55 percent male pilgrims annually, 55.3 percent of Indonesia’s pilgrims last year were women.
The gender balance has tipped in favor of Indonesia’s women for years, with 1.3 females to every one male performing the haj since 2011, according to data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs. This contrasts with the overall average of 1.22 males for every 1 female haj pilgrim from 2011 to 2016.
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Risyiana Muthia