DUSHNBE, November 23, 2009, Asia-Plus — 15 flights have been operated to carry 5,200 Tajik Muslim pilgrims to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Abdujabbor Abdughafforov, an official with the Ministry of Culture (MoC), told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon.
The last group o Tajik Hajjis flew to Jeddah on the night of November 20-21. “Among them are 70 elderly people deserving well of the country,” Abdughafforov said, noting that those 70 persons were sent for the Hajj upon the recommendation of president’s executive office and their expenses were paid for by the government.
Representatives from the Shuroi Ulamo (council of scholars and imams that provide interpretations of religious practice) and 10 physicians are accompanying Tajik Hajjis this year.
We will recall that the first 360 Tajik Hajjis flew to Saudi Arabia on November 7. This year, Tajik national air carrier, Tajik Air, and Tajikistan’s private airline, Somon Air, have carried Tajik Hajjis to Saudi Arabia.
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, the pilgrimage takes place from November 25 to November 30.
