The first group of Tajik Hajj pilgrims numbering 187 people returned home yesterday morning.
In accordance with an agreement between Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia, Tajik Somon Air and Saudi Flynas will carry Tajik pilgrims from Jeddah and Medina to Tajikistan this year.
The last group of Tajik Hajj pilgrims is expected to return home on September 25.
6,300 Muslims from Tajikistan have performed Hajj this year.
This year, Tajik pilgrims had to pay 32,671 somoni (equivalent to 3,630 U.S. dollars) each for the Hajj.
Recall, Tajik authorities last year introduced new age restrictions for those who want to perform the Hajj. Citizens under the age of 40 are no longer allowed to perform the Hajj. The aim of the decision to introduce new age restrictions is reportedly to give older people an opportunity to achieve their dream to perform the Hajj.
The new age limit of 40 has been raised from the limit of 35 that was instituted in April 2015.
For the first time the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan introduced age restrictions on those who want to perform the Hajj in 2010. Only citizens aged 18 to 80 were able to perform the Hajj.
In 2011, the CRA designed a new Hajj uniform; men don two-piece suits, while women wear long-sleeved dresses complete with headscarves. The Tajik Hajj uniform is embroidered with the country’s symbols.
Each year, Saudi Arabia welcomes millions of Muslims from abroad traveling on Umrah and Hajj. Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a pilgrimage to Mecca which adult Muslims must make at least one in their lifetime, provided they are physically and financially able. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year. This year the Hajj fell between August 30, 2017 and September 4, 2017.
