Participants in the 16th Scientific Meeting of Hajj and Umrah Research, organized by The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) on 17-18 Sha’ban 1437H / 24-25 May 2016, have expressed their thanks, appreciation and gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud for his kind patronage of the meeting. They have also expressed their thanks, appreciation and gratitude to his Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, the Crown Prince, Deputy Premier, Interior Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee and the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute of Hajj and Umrah Research for his inauguration of the meeting on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

This came at the conclusion of the meeting proceedings and the announcement, by Prof. Dr, Atef bin Hussein Asghar, Dean of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institution for Hajj and Umrah Research and Chairman of the Meeting Organizing Committee, of the recommendations reached by participants in the 16th Scientific Meeting of Hajj and Umrah Research.

The closing session was held under the chairmanship of the Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) President Dr. Bakri bin M’atooq Assas at King Abdul-Aziz hall with the participation of the researchers and specialists participating in the Meeting proceedings.

In their recommendations, the participants valued the blessed efforts exerted by the wise government in serving the guests of Allah, pilgrims, Umrah performers and visitors, praying for Almighty Allah to protect Saudi Arabia’s security, stability, prosperity, wise leadership and kind people. 

The Meeting’s participants recommended the publication of hajj and Umrah fiqh rulings of the accredited schools of thought on a website endorsed by one of the official fatwa authorities and updating them periodically.

They also recommended the preparations of training programs to develop and the potentials and skills of people working in the field of hajj and umrah to increase their efficiency in handling crises, disasters and emergency cases as well as educating them on the custom and traditions of pilgrims who come from the four corners of the world.

They underlined the need to take all the necessary precautions during the upcoming hajj season to help pilgrims avoid heat and sun strokes by providing umbrellas and sunshades in the holy sites and routes; providing cold drinks and good nutrition; intensifying first aid courses for people helping the pilgrims, especially pilgrims with special needs; applying modern technologies in managing ambulance services; equipping and operating special convoys for sick pilgrims; and improving the health condition of sick pilgrims.

The participants also recommended taking effective measures to slash down food waste left by pilgrims, umrah performers and visitors; using modern technologies in recycling plastic waste and turn it into fuel; using the best options for waste collection and storage; and encouraging the setting up of public and private companies to develop waste management.

In their recommendations, they underlined the importance of setting up special complexes for kitchens that meet all the health standards where kitchens are set up and equipped according to the rules and conditions of food safety under the supervision of the relevant authorities.

They called for utilizing technologies for the preparation and preservation of ready meals which make it easier, safer and cleaner to prepare meals that are acceptable to many pilgrims and minimize the chances of food contamination.

The participants called for seeking to use renewable energy methods and technologies for generating power from the movement of pedestrians and vehicles; increase the use of solar energy on the rooftops of hotels and buildings; giving incentives to hotels and residential buildings that minimize the use of traditional power sources in favor of renewable energies.

They called for re-designing the hajj and umrah services and facilities, taking into consideration of the human, place, time, technology and operational elements, to maximize the efficiency of these services and facilities guarantying availability, integration, interaction, operation, maintenance, standardization, development and improvement. To achieve that, they called for setting up “a center for the measurement of performance indicators, operational research and emulation” for hajj and umrah within The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research in coordination with the relevant authorities.

They also called for expanding e-hajj services to include reserving all the services and facilities needed by pilgrims during they stay in the kingdom through multiple hajj programs that guarantee multiple uses of the place and distribution of pilgrims on several locations. They proposed allowing initial reservation for after-five-years hajj programs, semi-confirmed reservation for after-three-years hajj programs and then confirmed reservation for reach hajj season. They called for seeking to apply the idea of special routes for the Jamarat Bridge based on the location of pilgrims which will greatly help in synchronizing pilgrims' procession to the Jamarat Bridge and prevent unauthorized pilgrims from reaching the area. The participants proposed that this should be taken into consideration in the comprehensive plan for the horizontal and vertical development of Mina area. 

In their recommendations, the participants called for re-designing the camps areas in Mina and Arafat and opening pedestrian routes to minimize the walking distance and efforts exerted to reach the camps, the Jamarat Bridge and metro stations, with special consideration for people with special needs, elders and women. They called for minimizing crowdedness inside the trains through constant monitoring of the number of passengers. They proposed designing and setting up, for an experimental purpose, a standard complex for multi-storey tents to accommodate a specified number of pilgrims in Mina and evaluate this as a possible economic alternative for construction in the Mina area.

The recommendations called for an integrated scientific project based on the latest technologies and scientific studies, an integrated information system and an accurate database to contribute to crisis and crowd management during hajj and umrah seasons; provide early warning mechanisms to detect signs of danger and report them to decision-makers and use visual representation of data to help decision-makers improve hajj and umrah services. They called for continuous development of the social media pages of the institutions concerned with the hajj and umrah in different languages, not just Arabic and English, to the benefit of all pilgrims. They called for training people responsible for such pages on different languages to be able to interact with the audience. They called for expanding the use of public transportation to move pilgrims, umrah performers, worshipers and visitors to and from the two holy mosques. They proposed giving advantage to registered buses and their stops on the main roads in Makkah and Madinah and allowing e-reservation of door-to-door charter buses for pilgrim groups.

At the conclusion of their recommendations, the participants underlined the importance of twinning between hospital in the holy sites and those in the Holy Capital of Makkah and King Abdullah Medical City to improve services and balance the efforts of service providers, especially in the areas of maintenance, supplies, medical engineering and support.