QURGHON TEPPA, October 6, 2008, Asia-Plus — Following instruction of the central government, Khatlon authorities have launched a competition to select persons to head groups of local Muslims that will participate in the Hajj this year, Abdusattor Kholmurodov, the head of the department for religious affairs within the Khatlon regional administration, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, they have already received applications from 70 persons for participation in the competition. “30 persons will be competitively selected from them to head the groups,” said Kholmurodov. “The persons to head the groups should be fluent in the Arab language.”
He noted that each of those groups will consist of 50 persons. This year, 1,538 Muslims from the Khatlon province are expected to participate in the Hajj.
Like last year, more than 5,000 Tajik Muslims will participate in the Hajj this year. The directorate for religious affairs within the Ministry of Culture controls participation in the Hajj, and the government continues to require air travel for the Hajj. Tajik pilgrims fly to Saudi Arabia from both Dushanbe and Khujand.
The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world.
It is the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. It is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah.
The pilgrimage occurs from the 10th to the 15th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar used in the Western world, the Gregorian date of the Hajj is eleven days earlier from year to year. In 2007, the Hajj was from December 17 to December 21; this year from the first week of December.
