A 104-year-old Indonesian woman, one of the oldest pilgrims to perform Hajj this year, said she was thrilled and grateful to be heading to the holy city of Mecca to embark on the pilgrimage.

“Alhamdulillah [praise be to God], I am going to Mecca. Alhamdulillah, I am going to Hajj,” said Ibu Mariah Marghani Muhammad shortly after landing in Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport on Saturday.

The woman, who was wearing a white head-to-toe Islamic dress, had performed Umrah when she was 90 years old, said a statement released by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information.

Officials at the Indonesian Consulate said that Ibu Mariah was in “good health and will be able to perform her Hajj rituals without any problems,” reported the statement.

“Saudi Arabia warmly welcomes Ibu Mariah. The Hajj is the spiritual highlight in the life of every Muslim,” said a spokesman for the ministry. “At the age of 104, it is remarkable for Ibu Mariah to be here. We wish her well.”

There are 3.2 million Indonesians on the Hajj waiting list, which creates an average 37-year wait before citizens of the largest Muslim country in the world can perform Hajj, Joko Asmoro, chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Association for Hajj and Umrah Travels, told the Saudi Gazette last year.

For Indonesians, the 10-hour flight and $1,000 (Dh3,674) average cost of Hajj make it a once in lifetime event for most.

Ibu Mariah is one of the 221,000 pilgrims from Indonesia who will be performing the Hajj this year. According to the statement, more than 1.5 million worshippers from all over the world have already arrived in the kingdom to perform the annual pilgrimage.  

On the other hand, Agencies involved in Hajj preparations are ready to serve more than 2 million pilgrims, a senior Saudi official said. Pilgrims have arrived in preparation for the “Day of Tarwiyah,” which falls today, said Interior Ministry Spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.

He said the Hajj plan would serve over 2 million pilgrims, including 1,747,440 who have already arrived from abroad and another 200,000 from inside Saudi Arabia, including citizens and residents.

Al-Turki stressed the efforts made at the entrance to the holy sites to detect any violations of Hajj regulations. He said more than 400,000 people have been turned away for lacking Hajj permits. A total of 208,236 cars driven by those without the correct permits were turned away, while another 3,296 vehicles were seized at the entrances to Makkah, officials said.

Hatim bin Hassan Qadi, adviser to the minister of Hajj, announced the completion of the first phase of the pilgrim-receiving plan through the entry points in Makkah and Madinah. He said 19,500 buses transported pilgrims from Madinah to Makkah while another 38,000 buses transported pilgrims from other areas. Pilgrims will later be transported to Mina by 9,000 buses.
Qadi affirmed the readiness of camps in Mina to receive pilgrims and said that both public and private sectors are working to serve the pilgrims.