Muslims living in North America are being robbed of their hajj experience simply because they do not have a hajj mission representing their voice in Saudi Arabia. We are being forced to deal with an entity that has no understanding of our needs or lifestyle as well as no transparency for our safety as Americans.

Even though travel agents are not hajj missions, they took on the responsibility of ensuring that all hujjaj are prepped for Hajj as well as securing our safety and financial security. Our needs as Americans extend beyond a mere booking of a hotel. We need an entity we have access to locally, we need an entity that we can hold accountable if services are not met, we need an entity that will provide us with our packages months in advance (not 30 days prior) as we have family and work we need to plan around, we need an entity that will provide us with logistic sessions months in advance, we need an entity that will provide us with religious sessions months in advance, we need an entity that will book our package based on our needs, we need an entity that will provide us with the opportunity to be led by scholars we are familiar with.

We need the Saudi Government to allow us the opportunity to make our own decision on who we choose to go with for hajj!