Hajj organizers in Northern Caucasus note visa facilitation
In Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria, the main quotas for the Hajj are fully consumed; in North Ossetia and Karachay-Cherkessia – by half or less. Sending pilgrims to Muslim shrines has been simplified after the introduction of electronic visas by Saudi Arabia, Hajj organizers report.
This year, 10,000 residents of Dagestan and 2600 residents of Chechnya will undertake pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Hajj is a pilgrimage to the Muslim holy Mecca. Every Muslim has to perform it at least once in the lifetime.
This year, the main novelty is the introduction by Saudi Arabia of electronic visas, which greatly facilitates the pilgrims' preparation for the trip, said Khizbula Asuev, Assistant to the Council Head on the Hajj, and Advisor to the Chairman of the Russia's Council of Muftis.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia increased the quota for Russian pilgrims by 5000 people. It is allowed to make pilgrimage to holy places to 25,500 Muslims from Russia.
Bulat Kurbanov, the director general of the "Marva-Tour" Dagestani Hajj operator, has noted that, like a year ago, almost half of the Dagestani pilgrims are women.
Magomedali Gaparov, the head of the department for interaction with religious organizations and spiritual educational institutions of the Ministry for Nationalities' Matters, has expressed regret that there are no more sponsors for the charitable Hajj in the republic.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Muslims of Southern Russia were outraged by the prices for Hajj tours, which went up in 2019.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 22, 2019 at 11:49 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondents