{"id":1145872,"date":"2026-01-14T16:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.app.com.pk\/national\/pak-urges-ksa-to-extend-hajj-quota-as-per-countrys-population-says-sardar-yousuf\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T16:41:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:41:46","slug":"pak-urges-ksa-to-extend-hajj-quota-as-per-countrys-population-says-sardar-yousuf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/pak-urges-ksa-to-extend-hajj-quota-as-per-countrys-population-says-sardar-yousuf\/","title":{"rendered":"Pak urges KSA to extend Hajj quota as per country\u2019s population, says Sardar Yousuf"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD, Jan 14 (APP): Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has said that the government is in contact with Saudi authorities to seek an increase in Pakistan\u2019s Hajj quota to 230,000 in line with the country\u2019s population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the increase in quotas for other countries, Pakistan\u2019s quota will also be significantly enhanced,\u201d the minister said, expressing hope while addressing a Hajj rituals training workshop and talking to media on Wednesday at the Hajj Complex.<\/p>\n<p>Sardar Yousaf said the Ministry of Religious Affairs is actively pursuing the inclusion of Lahore station in the dual-immigration system like Islamabad and Karachi to provide maximum facilitation to Hajj pilgrims.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 0px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-1145872-1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Video-2026-01-14-at-7.52.12-PM.mp4?_=1\" \/><source type=\"\" src=\"\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Video-2026-01-14-at-7.52.12-PM.mp4\">https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp-Video-2026-01-14-at-7.52.12-PM.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>Sharing details of Hajj 2026, the minister said that under the Route to Makkah project, more than 38,000 intending pilgrims will travel to Saudi Arabia from Islamabad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany pilgrims from Peshawar also prefer departing from Islamabad to avoid long immigration queues upon arrival in Saudi Arabia,\u201d the minister added.<\/p>\n<p>The minister clarified that accommodations with equal facilities have been arranged for all government intending pilgrims in Al-Azizia and Makkah.<\/p>\n<p>He said work on reforming the private Hajj package is also underway on the directives of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif with the aim of ensuring affordable packages and improved facilities for pilgrims.<\/p>\n<p>Saudi government gave an excellence award to Pakistan for providing improved facilities to pilgrims, the minister said noting that the number of complaints has significantly decreased in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Sardar Yousaf said the ministry aims to secure a position among the top three countries providing the best facilities to pilgrims.<\/p>\n<p>He said the government restored the title of its staff serving pilgrims from \u201cMuawnee-e-Hajj\u201d back to \u201cKhudam-ul-Hajjaj\u201d noting that the Saudi King also proudly refers to himself as \u201cKhadam-e-Haramain Sharifain\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing participants on the training and discipline of Hajj pilgrims, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf said that Hajj is a demanding spiritual journey that requires patience and endurance.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the Ministry of Religious Affairs has prepared 22 guiding principles aimed at making the performance of Hajj rituals easier for pilgrims.<\/p>\n<p>The federal minister urged the intending pilgrims to strictly observe the laws and regulations of the Holy Sites and to focus on worship in accordance with the Sunnah.<\/p>\n<p>He expressed concern that some pilgrims remain preoccupied with taking photos and videos on their mobile phones during Tawaf or while visiting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shrine, which, he said, distraction from the true purpose of worship.<\/p>\n<p>He added that while kissing the Hajj-e-Aswad, pilgrims should avoid causing inconvenience to others as greeting it from a distance is also a Sunnah.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing details of the training programme, Sardar Yousaf said the second phase will begin after Ramadan, during which pilgrims will receive comprehensive guidance on procedures, vaccinations, and other facilities.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pak urges KSA to extend Hajj quota as per country\u2019s population, says Sardar Yousuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1146067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_speechable_audio":"","_speechable_word_timings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"post_template":[],"top_category":[],"class_list":["post-1145872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1145872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1146067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1145872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1145872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1145872"},{"taxonomy":"post_template","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template?post=1145872"},{"taxonomy":"top_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.app.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/top_category?post=1145872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}