At least 125 Filipino pilgrims are bereft of hajj leaders (sheikhs) in Saudi Arabia and have sought the intercession of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order the lifting of the travel ban imposed on their five sheikhs by the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA).

The affected pilgrims, mostly female and elderly who flew to Saudi Arabia as early as October 25, could not perform well the hajj-prescribed rituals and are feared of going astray amid millions of hajj goers from across the world converging in the holy lands for this year’s pilgrimage, according to Lanao del Sur Rep. Pangalian Balindong.

Depriving pilgrims of sheikhs’ services is tantamount to “violation of religious rights” under the Constitution, said Balindong, who is the Malacañang-appointed amirul hajj (Head of Mission) for the 3,500-member Filipino hajj delegation this year.

Sheikh Abdulmujib Dipatuan, one of the five banned hajj team leaders, said their own jammah (member-followers) have kept calling from Saudi Arabia, complaining of all sorts of discomfort and anxiety stemming from the absence of hajj guides.

Dipatuan also complained that time is running out on them to serve their jammah because the last flight for Philippine pilgrims to Saudi Arabia is fixed on November 17.

On referral of Balindong, Dipatuan and the four other banned sheikhs - Suhayli Malambut, Omar Dimacaling, Salih Dimacaling and Mustapha Angguin – sought the help of the media to expose their sad plight with the hope of gaining the attention of higher authorities including Mrs. Arroyo.

In a separate interview Friday night, OMA Executive Director Ali B. Sangki confirmed having banned the five sheikhs from Lanao del Sur due to alleged offenses in Saudi Arabia during the 2008 pilgrimage.

"I have been lambasted by some congressmen accusing me of misgivings in my own desire to institute reform in OMA and the hajj processes," Sangki told the Bulletin.

But Sangki added that the committees on Muslim Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives have cleared him of the accusations after submitting his reports to both chambers of Congress.

Sangki said he banned the sheikhs for alleged involvement in the forceful movement of Filipino pilgrims that led to the destruction of a steel gate at the shrine of stoning in Minah district in December, 2008.

Sheikh Angguin vehemently denied involvement in the purported offense, saying that dozens of other sheikhs and local OMA have testified in his defense.

The five sheikhs pointed out that they have raised money and offered to pay the cost of damage but Sangki allegedly rejected the offer.

The OMA head refuted the claim, saying he would lift the ban on sheikhs Malambut and the two Dimacalings upon the payment of the damage.

He clarified that sheikhs Angguin and Dipatuan still face another ban for their failure to bring home some of their jammah, who allegedly stayed behind and went in hiding in Saudi Arabia since the 2008 hajj.

Dipatuan suspected that the charges against him were “fabricated” by OMA because, he said, the Saudi authorities did not question him when he performed the omrah (minor hajj) last September.

The annual hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam required of every qualified Muslim to perform at least once in a lifetime.