Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Thousands of Indian women to perform Hajj without male guardian

Thousands of Indian women to perform Hajj without male guardian

More than 4,300 Indian women have registered to perform this year’s Hajj on their own, in what authorities say will be the country’s largest female contingent to embark on the pilgrimage without a male guardian.
With over 200 million Indians professing Islam, the Hindu-majority South Asian nation has the world’s largest Muslim-minority population. Under the 2023 Hajj quota, about 175,000 of them will travel to Saudi Arabia in June for the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam.

In a first, among the pilgrims will be women who applied individually and will reach the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah on their own, following last year’s decision by Saudi Arabia to lift a rule that required women to be accompanied by a mahram, or male guardian. Those who had no such companion could previously travel only in large groups of other women.

India tweaked its Hajj policy accordingly in February, and the Ministry of Minority Affairs announced its list of pilgrims on Monday, saying that this year 4,314 pilgrims were selected in the Ladies Without Mahram category, marking the country’s “largest ever contingent of women proceeding on Hajj alone without a male member.”

A.P. Abdullakutty, chairman of the Haj Committee of India, a statutory body of the Indian government that organizes Islamic pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News that the fact that so many Indian women are going on Hajj without a mahram was an indicator of social development.

“It’s a good sign,” he said. “This is an empowerment of women, especially the empowerment of Indian Muslim women.”

Shaista Ambar, a resident of Lucknow, is one of the women who applied to travel alone.

“I lost my husband and a son in the COVID pandemic, but I did not lose my hope to go for Hajj and I applied all alone,” she told Arab News.

“Women have been asking the Haj committee to change the rules for (so) long. Qur’an gives women equal rights to education and freedom (as men).”

To make the new pilgrimage policy even more fair, Indian authorities have also abolished the VIP quota for pilgrims, which earlier had 500 reserve spots set aside for top government officials. They also made special arrangements to provide forex facilities to pilgrims, allowing them to carry sums that are based on their actual requirements.

“In front of Allah everyone is equal,” Abdullakutty, said. “There is a complete transparency in the selection ... The whole idea is to make pilgrimage as smooth as possible for Indian Muslims.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×