President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt recently urged his fellow countrymen who had already performed the pilgrimage to Mecca to refrain from doing so again because a second pilgrimage is not compulsory in Islam, but, in the meanwhile, costs the ailing economy a lot.
"In these difficult circumstances it is not religious and it does not serve our people," Mubarak was quoted by Financial Times as saying, adding that the pilgrimages cost the country nearly EP3bn-EP4bn ($704m-$938m) a year.
Hajj is one of the five pillars in Islam, but it is a must obnly for rich Muslims and only once in a lifetime – Albawaba.com
