Electronic Reception Program tracks mu'tamirs till they arrive in KSA

The Ministry of Hajj in Saudi Arabia has implemented an Electronic Reception Program in time for this year’s season, which started at the beginning of Safar** and lasts for nine months, to ensure that the journeys are processed smoothly. 

The program electronically monitors all mu`tamirs* around the world from the moment they buy their service packages to their arrival at the Kingdom's ports. E-mails are then sent from the port to the employees in the Two Holy Cities to prevent any chaos or errors in finalising their procedures.

The ministry expects approximately six million mu`tamirs during this year's season. Dr Bandar ibn Muhammad Hajjar, the Minister of Hajj, stated that the Ministry has issued approximately 6,230,000 umrah visas, an increase of one million visas from last year, when 5,615,000 mu'tamirs arrived and 5,300,000 departed. On average, 400,000 mu`tamirs arrive every month, with a steady increase in Ramadhan, as the mu`tamirs are keen to perform umrah during this month, the ministry said. 

His Highness said, "Electronically monitoring the services provided to the mu`tamirs – especially during Ramadhan, which witnesses an increase in the number of mu`tamirs from inside and outside the Kingdom – plays a role in achieving the flexible and smooth management of such large numbers of mu`tamirs. Through the effective functioning of the E-track Program for umrah, the Ministry was able to keep a record of the number of visas passing through it from the first day of the umrah season at the beginning of Safar. These are submitted to the relevant authorities to complete the usual process until the mu`tamir receives the required visa.”

The Minister commended the efforts of the Deputy Ministry of Hajj for Umrah Affairs exerted by the General Administration for Umrah Companies and Establishments and the General Administration for Mu`tamir Services in connecting the network of umrah companies and establishments with the umrah e-track. 

*People on an umrah.

**The second month in the Islamic year.

Tracking technology mooted for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims

The Indonesian government is discussing plans to equip its Hajj pilgrims with electronic technology such as tracking bracelets to help locate them if they are lost while conducting Hajj pilgrimage rituals in Saudi Arabia, Antara News reported on 3 June.

As the plans are still preliminary, the initiative will not be implemented till after the 2014 Hajj, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar was quoted as saying.

BGC promoting murabaha mechanism with Dubai Multi Commodity Centre

BGC Partners, a global brokerage company servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets, has partnered with the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre (DMCC) to promote a shari'ah-compliant commodity murabaha mechanism. 

The March agreement is the first between DMCC and an interdealer broker to jointly market commodity murabaha on the DMCC Tradeflow Platform. The partnership offers the trading community a faster, more efficient method of trading this niche financial product, and promotes Dubai as the global centre of Islamic finance at the same time. 
  
Said Charlie Sleightholme, Head of Commodity Murabaha Business at BGC in Dubai: "While trading of this product has been in existence for some time, our joint offering brings a modernisation to the process, offering speed, convenience and innovation to the execution of this popular product."

"We are thrilled to offer an exciting, world class mechanism for the trading of commodity murabaha which we believe will garner significant interest from the trading community both domestically and internationally," commented Paul Boots, Director, Tradeflow at DMCC. 

"With BGC's premier global reputation, its relationships with top-tier institutions across the world and its leading electronic trading capabilities, we believe that commodity murabaha customers will see significant benefits in terms of efficiency and transparency. This, in turn, will continue to promote and assert Dubai's reputation as a preeminent global capital of Islamic finance."

Established in 2002 by Royal Decree, the DMCC is a strategic government initiative of the Government of Dubai designed to enhance trade flows through the UAE by providing infrastructure and an optimal environment allowing clients to fully benefit from both a regulated framework and convenient location. 

The DMCC has helped to bridge the gap in the region between the commodity industry and trade finance by providing a mechanism for the issue of electronic warehouse receipts on behalf of the owners of stored commodities since 2004. In 2012, the DMCC Tradeflow platform unified these services, providing members with a holistic approach to the process of certifying commodities for the purposes of trade finance, as well as for the trade of locally stored commodities between Islamic banking institutions and their counterparties through the commodity murabaha mechanism.

*Murabaha is not an interest-bearing loan, which is considered riba (or excess) and forbidden under shari'ah (Islamic religious law), and is rather an acceptable form of credit sale. Murabaha is an Islamic financing structure in which an intermediary buys an asset with free and clear title to it. The intermediary and prospective buyer then agree upon a sale price (including an agreed-upon profit for the intermediary) that can be made through a series of installments, or as a lump sum payment. 

Similar in structure to a rent-to-own arrangement, the intermediary retains ownership of the property until the loan is paid in full. It is important to note that to prevent riba, the intermediary cannot be compensated in addition to the agreed-upon terms of the contract. For this reason, if the buyer is late on their payments, the intermediary cannot charge any late penalties.