- In their thirst for mock Umrahs, travel operators in South Africa are defrauding the Saudi Government.

Answer

The whole affair is haraam. All role players are evil and following their vain desires. The Saudi regime is kuffaar, worse than shaitaan.

Going for umrah nowadays is not permissible. They labour under the intoxication of selfdeception to believe that they are on an Ibaadat trip when going for these mock umrahs whilst their brethren are suffering and languishing in extreme poverty, squalor and ignorance in many places of the world.

The whole scenario is haraam upon haraam - compound haraam. Nothing of this entire affair is permissible. It is not a question of 'defrauding' the kuffaar Saudi regime. No one defrauds such a vile, kaafir government such as the Saudi, brutal, oppressive regime. In fact, if it was for a valid reason, then the act of 'defrauding' the vile, brutal, kaafir Saudi regime, would have been an act of high and laudable merit.

The issue is simply a compound Haraam from A to Z. All participants in this mock umrah saga are villains - the Saudi regime, those who go for the mock umrahs and the molvis who condone these mock acts.

The Saudi regime is evil and kuffaar. The travel agents are agents of Iblees, and those going for umrah or mock umrah are under the spell of shaitaan and the slaves of their nafs. They have a plethora of stupid and baseless arguments to deceive themselves into the belief that they are performing a meritorious act of Ibaadat, and that they are paying their Zakaat and giving other dribs and drabs as Lillaah. But this does not justify squandering huge amounts in mock 'ibaadat' activities which are encumbered with sin from the time when leaving home until the return back home. The minds and the hearts of these people are sealed. They see goodness in baatil and in evil.