Jakarta. Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar is engaging in diplomatic efforts with Saudi Arabian authorities to negotiate greater flexibility in the country’s age restrictions for Hajj pilgrims. The current policy sets a maximum age limit of around 90 years.

Nasaruddin advocates for a health-based eligibility criterion rather than a strict age limit, aligning with Indonesia’s Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2025, which prioritizes medical fitness in determining a pilgrim’s eligibility.

As of March 3, approximately 165,613 Indonesian pilgrims—82.37 percent of the total—have met the health requirements to travel to Mecca. Nasaruddin emphasized this approach during discussions with Saudi officials.

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“We continue to engage with Saudi officials, including the minister of religious affairs and the minister of health, regarding the 90-year age cap. I have urged them to consider Indonesia’s approach, where medical evaluations determine a pilgrim’s fitness rather than a rigid age limit,” he said during a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday.

Nasaruddin said discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Hajj and Health Ministries have led to a mutual understanding of the health-based eligibility system. If accepted, the policy shift could allow elderly pilgrims in good health to perform Hajj without facing age-based restrictions.

About 221,000 Indonesians are set to go on Hajj—a major pilgrimage that Muslims are required to perform at least once in their lifetime—this year. Saudi Arabia has also allowed Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, to send 2,210 Hajj officers.

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