Seeking Ships for Haj Pilgrims
The Ministry of Religious Affairs created a compromise between religious and secular groups. Wahid Hasyim became the nation’s first minister and focused on establishing an effective haj pilgrimage system.
April 20, 2011
AFTER stopping in Bangkok and Hong Kong, Religious Affairs Minister Wahid Hasyim, arrived in Tokyo on April 1, 1952. He had only one goal in mind: to acquire an inexpensive ship to transport Indonesian haj pilgrims to the Holy Land.
The government planned to send 14,000 candidates for the haj that year. “It was more than during previous years, yet this had to be done to avoid disappointing many Muslims and to prevent a situation that could be
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