The Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs is offering a free hotline to answer all questions related to pilgrimage rituals on the contact number 8002451000.

The service covers eight languages, including Arabic, English, French, Urdu, Turkish and Indonesian.

Pilgrims can choose to listen to electronic messages about the rites of Hajj and Umrah, general messages from the ministry and rulings from the permanent committee of religious researchers.

Moreover, they can speak directly to one of the ministry’s Islamic guidance representatives, who are available 24 hours a day.

The team is made up of dozens of religious preachers who will provide information on Hajj procedures and answer all queries.

The ministry has offered this service for six years in a row. When it first started, the hotline only provided 8 hours of contact time.

The average number of calls per day exceeded 1,030 during last year’s Hajj.

The ministry has also launched the “Fatwa Robot” service.

The robot will provide pilgrims under the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ guests program with fatwas and other religious advice.

Users will be able to connect through video calls with a group of Muftis in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to access fatwas and advice in a number of languages.

There is a version of the remote-controlled Fatwa robot designed for people with special needs.

Source: Arab News