As Muslims worldwide do the sacred pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah, a profound moral question looms: how can we justify spending billions on religious rituals while people in Palestine face genocide, starvation, and unimaginable suffering? Why it is essential to Boycott Hajj and Umrah to redirect resources and pressure complicit regimes ensuring our actions align with justice over ritual in this time of crisis.
The current crisis in Gaza, mirrors the tragic fall of Baghdad, ending the Abbasid Caliphate in the 13th century. When the barbaric Mongol armies ravaged Muslim lands, people of Baghdad were consumed by debates over trivial religious obligations, neglecting the urgent need to unite against the impending madness. Similarly, today’s focus on Hajj and Umrah—costly rituals generating billions for Saudi Arabia—diverts attention from the moral imperative to prioritize Palestine’s survival.
Saudi Arabia’s Earnings from Hajj and Umrah: A Billion-Dollar Industry
Hajj and Umrah are not just spiritual journeys but also massive economic engines for Saudi Arabia. According to industry analyses, the kingdom earned approximately $12 billion annually from Hajj and $5 Billion from Umrah contributing 20% to its non-oil GDP and 7% to its total GDP. In 2025, with an expected 2–3 million Hajj pilgrims and up to 30 million Umrah visitors, Saudi Arabia’s revenue could approach $20–30 billion, factoring in expenses for accommodation, transportation, food, and souvenirs.
These figures reflect Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to boost pilgrim numbers to 30 million annually by 2030, leveraging infrastructure investments like airport expansions and luxury hotels in Mecca and Medina. The cost of Hajj alone ranges from $3,000 to $10,000 per pilgrim, depending on their country of origin, with luxury packages in the UAE reaching up to $16,000. Umrah, while less expensive, also generates significant revenue.
This financial windfall starkly contrasts with the dire needs in Palestine, raising questions about where this wealth is directed.
Saudi Arabia’s Meager Aid to Palestine vs. Extravagant Concert Spending
While Saudi Arabia reaps billions from Muslim pilgrims, its aid to Palestine remains woefully inadequate, especially given the scale of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Since October 2023, millions of Palestinians have been killed, and face starvation, lack of clean water, and medical shortages due to Israel’s blockade and bombardment.
Saudi Arabia’s contributions to Palestinian aid are minimal compared to its pilgrimage revenue. For example, in 2024, Saudi Arabia pledged $40 million to UNRWA for Gaza relief efforts, a fraction of the $12–20 billion it earns annually from Hajj and Umrah. Over the past decade, KSA total aid to Palestine has been estimated at $1 billion, dwarfed by what it earns annually from religious tourism.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has spent lavishly on entertainment, aligning with Vision 2030. In 2023 alone, the kingdom allocated $20 billion to tourism and entertainment projects, including high-profile concerts featuring global stars like Justin Bieber and BTS, costing millions per event.
These expenditures, aimed at modernizing Saudi Arabia’s image, occur while Gaza’s children draw food in the sand, as Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed poignantly wrote: “How can you enjoy sweets while we are wrapped in shrouds?” The contrast is stark: billions for concerts and luxury hotels, but pennies for Palestine’s survival.
Rich, Morally Corrupt Muslim Countries: Complicity in Genocide
The Muslim world has no shortage of wealth and the Gulf states backed by their Oil economy is one of the richest nations on earth but despite their wealth and influence, they have actively or passively enabled Israel’s actions in Palestine, betraying the Muslim Community.
UAE: Welcoming Israel Amid Genocide
Top of this list apart from Saudi Arabia is UAE, a key player in the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 and has since deepened ties, even as Gaza burns. In April 2025, the UAE hosted Israel’s ambassador, Yossei Shelley, at a time when Israel’s attacks had killed millions of Palestinians.
The UAE’s $1.4 trillion investment deal with the U.S., announced in March 2025, underscores its alignment with Zionist Lobby in US government. While publicly endorsing Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan, the UAE reportedly sabotaged it in private discussions with the Trump administration, prioritizing economic ties with Israel and the U.S. over Palestinian lives.
PS: UAE has caused more harm to humanitarian causes than any other country in the world. It is a hub for money laundering, where wealthy criminals—including corrupt politicians who steal from poor nations, mafia leaders, and human traffickers—hide their money under the full protection of UAE government. Behind its glittering façade of wealth, everything is dark and corrupt
Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt: Blocking Resistance
Then there are other less wealthy traitors – Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt, who have actively undermined Palestinian resistance by intercepting missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis, which aimed to target targeted Israeli Military in Gaza. In April 2024, these countries, alongside Saudi Arabia, helped Israel intercept Iranian drones and missiles, bolstering Israeli security while innocent children of Gaza were mercilessly bombed by IDF.
The eviliest of the lot is Egypt which despite its proximity to Gaza, has maintained a blockade on the Rafah crossing, severely limiting aid and medical evacuations.
Middle East as U.S. Vassal States
The truth that common people need to know is that leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt operate under significant U.S. influence, with their foreign policies shaped by American aid, military bases, and economic pressures. These are basically Vassal states of USA with little autonomy.
Saudi Arabia’s $78 billion military budget, the largest among Muslim nations, is heavily tied to U.S. arms deals. The UAE’s $1.4 trillion U.S. investment and Egypt’s $1.3 billion annual U.S. aid highlight their dependence.
These countries fear antagonizing the U.S., which provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military aid, enabling the genocide in Gaza. As a result, their leaders prioritize US approval over Muslim solidarity, effectively surrendering sovereignty to maintain power.
Why Muslims Must Know and Act: The Case to Boycott Hajj and Umrah
In 2019, Libya’s Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariani issued a fatwa urging a Hajj boycott, stating that such funds “Help Saudi rulers carry out crimes against our fellow Muslims.”
Some argue it’s hypocritical to boycott Hajj and Umrah—acts of worship to please God—while people spend freely on everyday goods. However, this misses the point. In times of crisis, when lives are at stake, true devotion to God lies in helping those in need, not in performing costly pilgrimages. Unlike personal expenses, which are openly self-serving, Hajj and Umrah mask personal motives under the guise of spirituality. Boycotting these rituals during crises prioritizes human lives over symbolic acts, exposing the hypocrisy of hiding behind “pleasing God” while neglecting urgent calls for aid.
Hajj and Umrah are financial transactions funneled through state-controlled systems in Saudi Arabia. Pleasing God does not justify enriching regimes that fail to act against genocide. Redirecting pilgrimage funds to Gaza’s relief—where $1 can feed a family for a day—aligns more closely with Islamic values of compassion and justice.
A Moral Imperative to Boycott Hajj and Umrah
The ongoing genocide in Palestine, with its devastating toll—children buried under rubble, relief workers shot, and starving people killed in food lines, IDF soldiers partying outside the concentration camps for Palestinians,—is a shameful indictment of the Muslim world’s inaction. Despite the immense wealth of some Muslim nations, the cries of Palestinians go unanswered and the world is watching the madness.
It should put to shame the rulers of muslim world that a small girl like 22-year-old Greta Thunberg and renowned Liam Cunningham risk their lives to challenge the siege along with many other brave brave souls – and the countries who spend million of dollars in Defence don’t have the guts to stop the madness.
Genocide in Palestine demands a unified Muslim response. Boycotting Hajj and Umrah in 2025 sends a powerful message to Saudi Arabia and its allies: the Ummah will not fund regimes complicit in Palestinian suffering.
Instead, Muslims can channel their resources to aid organizations like UNRWA or grassroots campaigns in Gaza, directly addressing the starvation and destruction. The choice is clear—rituals can wait, but justice cannot.
Let us prioritize saving lives over enriching morally bankrupt states, fulfilling our duty to please God through action, not acquiescence.
- FILE PHOTO: Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo12 ↩︎