Idris urges authorities to probe freelance preacher who brought unvaccinated pilgrims for umrah

PUTRAJAYA: Senator Idris Ahmad has urged the relevant authorities to investigate a freelance preacher who admitted to bringing a group of pilgrims who were not fully vaccinated to perform umrah.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) said the incident should not have happened because among the conditions for performing umrah was that the pilgrims must have completed their vaccination with any of the vaccines approved by the Saudi Arabian government.

"I regret if this had really happened because among the conditions clearly stated was that the person must be fully vaccinated.

"How did they manage to leave for Mecca? The relevant authorities must investigate how they could go undetected," he told Bernama after presenting aid to flood victims here on Tuesday (Jan 11).

Idris also advised other freelance preachers not to teach topics that were not their expertise and urged them to leave this to the experts in the field.

Idris was asked to comment following the freelance preacher’s admission on his Instagram account that he had brought a group of pilgrims who were not fully vaccinated to perform umrah.

He had also admitted that he did not receive the MM vaccine.

It is learned that the MM vaccine refers to the Meningococcal Meningitis vaccine, which was a requirement set by Saudi Arabia for umrah pilgrims around the world.

In an Instagram post from October 2021, the preacher had allegedly invited any family that claimed to be “oppressed” because of vaccinations and had lost their livelihood to join his village.

“There's farming, gardening, livestock, and congregational prayers,” he claimed in the post.