DUSHANBE, April 8, 2014, Asia-Plus – 130 competitively selected guides will accompany Tajik Hajj pilgrims this year, according to the Committee for Religious Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan (CRA).
An official source at the CRA says 250 people aged 25 to 60 from Dushanbe and districts subordinate to the center have participated in the contest and 130 of them have been selected. “Each of guides will accompany a group numbering 40-45 pilgrims,” the source said.
According to him, the CRA officials have applied to Saudi Arabia with solicitation to increase the Hajj quota for Tajikistan to 8,000. Saudi Arabia, however, refused the application because of the expansionist projects at the Holy Sites.
“Like last year, 6,300 Muslims from Tajikistan will perform the Hajj this year,” the source added.
In 2010, the CRA introduced age restrictions on those who want to perform the Hajj. Only citizens aged 18 to 80 are able to perform the Hajj.
The Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is currently the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. 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.
