The first group of Tajik Hajj pilgrims, totaling 165 people, will depart for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, May 16. Tajikistan’s privately-owned airline, Somon Air, will operate this flight.
According to the Committee on Religious Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan (CRA), Saudi Arabia has allotted a quota of 7,000 pilgrims to Tajikistan who will be able to perform the annual Hajj ritual this year. This year, Hajj will cost citizens of Tajikistan 56,800 somonis, and payments have been made through Orienbonk.
This Hajj season, Saudi Arabia has introduced new regulations. Since the end of April, no one is allowed to enter the city of Mecca without a Hajj visa.
According to the new rules, individuals attempting to perform Hajj illegally will face fines, imprisonment for six months, as well as deportation and a ban on entering the Kingdom for up to 10 years.
In 2025, Saudi Arabia has placed special emphasis on the development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence to enhance the Hajj process. One of the notable innovations is the use of robots in the Al-Haram Mosque and other key locations in Mecca.
According to media reports, in 2025, Saudi Arabia is utilizing 32 advanced technologies to improve crowd management and ensure the safety of pilgrims.
In Tajikistan, only citizens aged 40 to 65 are able to perform the Hajj this year.
As far as age restrictions are concerned, the CRA for the first time 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 April 2015, Tajik authorities introduced new age restrictions. Citizens under the age of 35 were no longer allowed to perform the Hajj.
In 2016, the new age restrictions were instituted raising the age limit from 35 to 40.
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.
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.
It is worth recalling that over the past 20 years, nearly 40 million Muslims from around the world have performed Hajj. In 2023, a record number of pilgrims traveled to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.
