DUSHANBE, July 8, 2008, Asia-Plus — On Monday July 6, Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Ruqiya Qurbonova, presided over a meeting of special commission for preparation of this year’s Hajj.
Idibek Ziyoyev, the head of the Main Directorate for Religious Affairs (DRA) within the Ministry of Culture (MoC), told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon that an official registration of persons wanting to participate in Hajj this year will start in all regions of the country in August. According to him, preparation of Tajik pilgrims for Hajj is progressing.
“Probably, the global financial crisis has not affected them,” Ziyoyev said, noting that their specialists expect more than 10,000 people to apply for participation in Hajj this year. Meanwhile, like the previous year, Saudi Arabia allotted Tajikistan a quota of 5,000 pilgrims, he said.
Ziyoyev further added that DRA would establish queue of persons wanting to participate in Hajj this year. According him, citizens may apply for Hajj a year in advance.
The DRA head noted that persons applying for Hajj would deposit US$3,000 this year. Last year, they deposited US$2,950.
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. This year, Hajj is expected to fall on November 25-30, 2009.
