American Bedu

After speaking with some friends from Pakistan who recently performed Umrah at the Grand Mosque, I want to clear up any misperceptions on the use of wheelchairs. Yes; wheelchairs are available for use inside the Haram. For security and crowd control, individuals may be limited as to what they can take inside the Haram with them to include strollers and wheelchairs. If one requires a wheelchair there are two options available. First, one can obtain a wheelchair from an organization which would have its sites located just OUTSIDE the Haram. Wheelchairs are provided for use free of charge from the outside services although one may need to leave some form of identification which is retrieved when the wheelchair is returned. There are also vendors INSIDE the Haram who will also provide wheelchairs. These wheelchairs are available for a fee (ranging from 50 – 100 SAR). The fee can vary and depend on whether one is also engaging someone to push the wheelchair while in the Haram. I am writing this post so individuals will not be confused on the services available as some individuals felt they were being cheated by having to pay for use of a wheelchair when they heard wheelchairs were provided free of charge.

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