MECCA: The Hajj Pilgrims Fund Board or Tabung Haji (TH) which celebrated its 50th anniversary yesterday, has come a long way since its inception in 1963, with 13 employees, 1,280 contributors and savings amounting to just RM46,600.
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs division general manager Anis Zuhani Ahmad said from a small organization in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, TH was now the largest Islamic fund manager in the country with funds exceeding RM41 billion.
“TH is now a competitive organization through its innovative services and savings scheme which attracted more than eight million depositors with 119 branches and more than 6,000 touchpoints nationwide, and one office operating in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,” he said.
It was thus, befitting that the management of TH which was busy managing Malaysian pilgrims in Mecca held a prayer session to celebrate TH’s 50th anniversary in the holy land. TH was established as the Prospective Pilgrims Fund Corporation in November 1962 and began operations on Sept 30 in 1963. The board was set up based on a working paper by Royal Prof Ungku Aziz entitled, ‘Plan to improve the Economy of Prospective Pilgrims’ in 1959.
In 1969, the corporation was merged with the Pilgrimage Affairs Management office which operated in Penang to become the Pilgrimage Fund and Management Board, or Tabung Haji in short, which was established under the ‘Lembaga Urusan dan Tabung Haji’ Act 1969. “TH was set up as a halal method way of savings for Muslims for their pilgrimage.
“At that time, the Muslim community sold land, as well as livestock to ensure the fund was halal and free from interest. This is because there were no Islamic financial system then,” said Anis Zuhani. TH at that time, brought Malaysian pilgrims to fulfill the 5th Pillar of their Islamic obligation in two ships until 1976, and the last ships were Anshun and Angkin which docked at Penang and Port Klang. Former Malaysian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Datuk Syed Omar Al Saggaf when met, said the pilgrimage management in the 60’s was difficult as they were conducted under the hajj sheikh system.
“Many husbands and wives and their family members were separated upon landing at the holy land as they were grabbed by hajj sheikhs and they were forced to pay compensation if they wanted their family members to live in the same house,” he said. “The hajj pilgrims in the past did not enjoy facilities as accorded today, and only lived in stone houses around the hilly areas surrounding the Grand Mosque,” he said.
Now, the hajj sheikh system has been changed to the muassasah system and it made the hajj management more systematic and the pilgrims stay in hotels and TH colleges in Madinah and Mecca. From 1977, all pilgrims left for the holy land by flight and now tens of thousands of pilgrims arrive at two airports in Saudi Arabia namely Jeddah and Madinah.
Anis Zuhani said, upon realizing the importance of contributing to the welfare of TH depositors, including subsidizing the cost of hajj pilgrimage, the management of TH ventured into various syariah compliant investments such as properties, plantations, development and construction. “TH has also ventured into Islamic finance, hospitality services and tourism, food and catering, information technology and communication, as well as oil and gas to earn sustainable competitive returns,” he said.
TH now has 11 property assets in Malaysia and abroad through long-term leasing of hotels in Mecca and Madinah, as well as its two office buildings in Queen Street Place and Buckingham Palace Road, London in United Kingdom. “In consistence with its Islamic concept of ‘Addin’, TH has set the objectives of giving the best services to Malaysian hajj pilgrims to fulfill their pilgrimage and to give maximum returns to the depositors and their savings,” he said.
The achievements clearly showed TH has not only managed the pilgrims well in the holy land, it has in fact, also functioned as an alternative for Muslims to save and invest according to Islamic principles.
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