SEPANG: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, wished a safe journey to prospective Malaysian pilgrims who will depart for the Holy Land for the 1445H/2024 hajj season.
His daughter, Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim, and her husband, Datuk Dennis Muhammad Abdullah, accompanied him to the ceremony.
His Majesty's arrival at the Tabung Haji Sepang Complex, Movenpick here at 10am was received by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar.
This is Sultan Ibrahim's first farewell ceremony for prospective pilgrims since he was sworn in as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on January 31.
The ceremony started with a prayer by Deputy Mufti of the Federal Territories, Jamali Mohd Adnan.
A call for prayer was then sounded by TH officer Mohd Shafiq Shawal.
Sultan Ibrahim welcomed the prospective pilgrims and wished them a safe journey. The 282 prospective pilgrims will depart from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA Terminal 1) at 1:30pm on Sunday afternoon (May 26).
Prospective pilgrims also took the opportunity to take selfies with His Majesty before going over to KLIA Terminal 1.
They will board the AMAL flight by Malaysia Airlines (MH 8122), a special charter flight provider for Hajj and Umrah, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and is expected to arrive at 5.25pm (Saudi Arabia time).
Also present were the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Malaysia, Mesaad Ibrahim Al-Sulaim, Tabung Haji chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Hussain and group managing director and chief executive officer of Tabung Haji Syed Hamadah Syed Othman.
More than 16,000 Malaysian pilgrims have arrived safely in the holy land of Medina and Makkah.
There are 100 special charter flights for the 1445H/2024 hajj season, which started on May 9. The final flight is scheduled for June 9. – Bernama