LAHORE: The Saudi government is considering different visa options that would allow women to perform Hajj without a male guardian, reports have claimed.
As per Saudi law, women, are allowed to perform the annual pilgrimage only with a male guardian, while there is an exception for women older than 45, who can perform the ritual in groups.
Reports emerging claimed that the Kingdom’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is considering the option of granting visit visas for tourism and also for religious purposes, and women might be allowed to travel without male guardians.
The official said there were about 750 Umrah and Hajj companies with licenses, but only about 500 of these were in the market and they were only running at 1% of their capacity. The Umrah sector is more profitable than the industrial sector.
