No discrimination on basis of sect, says Riyadh

E-Paper | May 22, 2026

RIYADH: The Saudi ministry of Haj has rejected as false reports claiming that the kingdom now requires all pilgrims to declare their ‘sect’ before arriving in the country, Arab News reported here.

The ministry said that it was the Pakistani ministry concerned that had issued a form asking pilgrims to declare their sect “for their own regulatory procedures”.

The form being used for Haj application in Pakistan reportedly has a section asking, “Are you Shia,” with a box below requiring a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.

A source at the ministry said: “The kingdom does not differentiate between pilgrims according to their race, nationality, or Islamic sect.”

The source said the form seen on social networking websites was not administered by the Saudi ministry and was “a violation of the kingdom’s policy against sectarianism and racism”.

He said people should be wary of information spread online by those wishing to create strife and hatred among Muslims.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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brr

May 06, 2015 06:40am

Such discrimination seems to come naturally to buerocrats in pakistan.

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rana1

May 06, 2015 06:55am

At the airport too,a form asks anyone entering pakistan as to what religion or sect one belongs to. Seems our pakistanis are obsessed as who is who vis sects.Is this Islamic? Can pakistan proof or predict which sect is going to heaven?

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Alex

May 06, 2015 06:56am

Clarification accepted although hard to believe. Let us find out on whose instructions this form has been designed and he is clearly the culprit creating division among Muslims.

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Annonn

May 06, 2015 06:56am

Saudi minister is lying to pass the blame to Pakistan to malign it. Why would Pakistan add that obnoxious question on its own?

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ASP

May 06, 2015 07:21am

Now what Government has to say to this?

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Aftab

May 06, 2015 07:27am

If the Kingdom is such a neutral then why targeting the innocents in the Yemen and supporting the rebbellionists in Syria?

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Umar

May 06, 2015 07:53am

Those who criticised the Saudi government based on this story without checking their facts should issue apologies.

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Riaz

May 06, 2015 08:08am

Why column of sect in any form ?

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PakCanuck

May 06, 2015 08:42am

Can the Pakistani government please clarify their position? Asking for information about sectarian beliefs is ridiculous. Why does the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia cares? Why does the Pakistan government cares?

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Mesum

May 06, 2015 08:57am

Why do they are asking shia to declare their sect? If it is not the demand of Saudi Government then why Government of Pakistan is keen to do so?

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Syed Ali Ahmad

May 06, 2015 09:11am

I think i know why. I work in a bank and recently there was a circular that any females that belong to shia sect can opt to go without mehram. therefore yes this may be a policy change asked by Fiqah Jafria them selves

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deeds

May 06, 2015 09:14am

There is a lot of mis-information and false accusations circulating on the net and social media. We should all try to create harmony among Muslims and refrain from circulating false and misguided material.

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Numan

May 06, 2015 09:18am

we blame our leaders for not utlizing resources. well thousands of people will go for Hajj. while hundreds of children will die in the same month in Thar!

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Taimur

May 06, 2015 09:47am

It was Z A Bhutto who declared Ahmadis Non Muslim and started introducing such sections on forms. May be, he never knew that his own sect will face similar situation one day.

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Syed Irfan Ali

May 06, 2015 10:04am

Very apt and commendable clarification by the Saudi Ministry.

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Gypsy

May 06, 2015 10:05am

It's an eye opener, Pakistani govt must clarify what was the intention to introduce discrimination in the basic tenets of islam

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monpassant

May 06, 2015 10:07am

How convenient it is to make a mountain out of a molehill. Let us not get carried away with every piece of rubbish that comes up on social media. Those who still have doubts and have not read the article by Narjis Fatema, may like to objectively read the same http://www.dawn.com/news/1180137/keep-hajj-out-of-politics-notes-on-the-are-you-shia-form-debacle

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concerned

May 06, 2015 10:08am

Pakistan Govt. needs to answer.

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mustafa

May 06, 2015 10:10am

if there is such like column, it does not matter. it is type of information.

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Pakistani

May 06, 2015 10:38am

The concerned Saudi Ministry has issued a very timely clarification to the issue of sect question in Pakistani Haj application form. I would like to thank the Saudi government and apologise to our Saudi brothers for any hurt that we may have unwittingly caused Our government is responsible for this deeply offensive, un-Islamic, insulting, illegal and unconstitutional question in our various application forms- Passport, Visa, Haj, etc. Please remove this British era colonial question.

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Shirin

May 06, 2015 10:46am

@Umar the reason everone - Shias and Sunnis- jumped on the bash Saudi bandwagon is because Saudis are horrifically racist and horribly guilty of sectarianissm. That is the only way to describe bombing of people hep never lifted a a finger to hurt you. The whole world is praying for downfall of the house of saud

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javed hussain

May 06, 2015 01:23pm

the govt should remove this column immediately

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Babay

May 06, 2015 03:19pm

Saudi Arabia 's clarification is commendable where as the motive of Pakistan's ministry of religious affairs is a matter of concern. NS appointee must explain the reason for this nonsense column in the Haj application forms.

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May 07, 2015 12:56am

Sometimes KSA does things not by itself but through its stooges in other countries. The ministry of religious affairs in Pakistan has been proving itself as not the ministry of religion but a particular sect while the introduction of the sect declaration for Shias seems to be a part of its ongoing campaign. If this section was introduced for administrative purposes, even then the section must have contained names of all the established sects where all the pilgrims could check under the sect that they belong to. Mentioning of only a particular sect i,e, "Shia" in the Hajj form will lead to the discriminatory treatment of the pilgrims in future, if not now.

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