Suburban Muslim pilgrims 'in limbo' after Saudi Arabia's travel restrictions

Every year during spring break, Omar Hedroug leads a group of suburban Muslim families and youths on a minor pilgrimage to Mecca.

Thanks to the coronavirus, this year could be different.

Hedroug, education director for the Islamic Center of Naperville, is planning on accompanying roughly 50 people to Saudi Arabia later this month to perform Umrah - a shortened version of the mandatory Hajj pilgrimage all Muslims must make if able.

But their plans could be disrupted if the Saudi government continues blocking pilgrims from entering the country to visit Islam's holiest sites - the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque toward which Muslims pray, in Mecca, and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina - for fear of the coronavirus spreading through travelers.

The kingdom reported its first confirmed case of the coronavirus Monday as the disease continues to spread in the Middle East.

For now, Saudi authorities have suspended entry for pilgrims and tourists from countries with confirmed coronavirus outbreaks. That could change as the situation on the ground evolves and authorities determine an appropriate response, a spokesman said.

That leaves religious devotees like Hedroug and members of his community waiting anxiously for news.

"We don't know what's going to happen," Hedroug said. "There's a lot of uncertainty."

Hedroug said his group's tour operator advised waiting "until the dust settles" and there is a clear policy from the kingdom. Yet, conflicting information about Saudi travel restrictions and fears about the illness are spreading faster than the COVID-2019 disease in the U.S.

Typically, millions of pilgrims from all over the world converge on Mecca throughout the year and especially during Hajj, which begins July 28 this year. But growing anxiety over the coronavirus is making some Chicago-area Muslims question whether to make the trip.

"Everybody is in limbo right now," said Muhammed Sodager, who manages the Glendale Heights office of Haram Tours & Travels. "It's all chaos. Nobody knows what's going on."

Sodager has been organizing pilgrimage tours to Saudi Arabia for 14 years and said that in the past, disruptions have occurred during regional conflicts. With the coronavirus, the situation is changing by the hour.

"As of now, we have approximately more than 50 people, they have canceled their trips," he said.

Muslims save up and plan well in advance to perform Umrah, which can cost about $2,000 per person on average, and Hajj, which can cost about $10,000 per person on average.

Dalila Benameur, academic counselor at Universal School in Bridgeview, plans to chaperon a group of 42 students on an educational, historical and spiritual pilgrimage, including six days split between Mecca and Medina, later this month as she has for the past four years.

"That's something that they have been waiting for since they started high school," Benameur said.

She added students will be "bummed out" if the trip is canceled because it is meant to capstone their senior year, "just to finish their high school with a positive spirit and stronger friendships of brotherhood and sisterhood."

Talk is in the air of some parents not sending their children on the trip because of the disease scare, she said.

"We are just waiting to see how things evolve ... and if the ban will be extended or not," Benameur said.