| Abdul Hakiim Yakof |
THE first group of Haj pilgrims from Brunei Darussalam departed for Madinah via Royal Brunei Airlines flight BI4210 yesterday.
The flight carried 254 passengers, including officers from the Haj Medical Affairs Office, Darussalam Holdings Sdn Bhd and Straits Central Agencies Sdn Bhd.
One hundred and ten pilgrims were with Darussalam Holdings Sdn Bhd, 51 male and 59 females, while 139 pilgrims were with Straits Central Agencies Sdn Bhd, 61 male and 78 females.
Present to bid them farewell were Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, Minister of Religious Affairs; Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei (TAIB); Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi, Minister of Health; Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Abdul Mokti bin Haji Mohd Daud, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs; Hisham bin Abdul Wahab bin Abdullah Zaraa, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Brunei Darussalam; Dato Paduka Seri Haji Mohd Jammy bin Haji Muhd Shah Al-Islam, Commissioner of Police; Dato Seri Setia Haji Abdul Aziz bin Orang Kaya Maharaja Lela Haji Mohd Yusof, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs; Haji Harun bin Haji Junid and Roslan bin Haji Taja’ah, Deputy Permanent Secretaries at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
A recitation of Doa Selamat was led by Begawan Pehin Khatib Dato Paduka Haji Suhaili bin Haji Metali Al-Hafiz to bless the ceremony, while the Azan (call to prayer) was carried out by Mudim Haji Metassim bin Haji Metussin.
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