GROZNY, September 25 (Itar-Tass) - Around 3,000 Muslims from the Chechen republic will make a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj this year, the head of the Chechen Republic Spiritual Management’s Hajj Committee said on Wednesday.
“There will be four coach Hajj flights to Jordan on September 27-28. For pilgrims who prefer a more comfortable and expensive route, there will be 17 direct flights to Saudi Arabia,” the official said.
The Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam and a religious duty which must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or her lifetime. On the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which is October 14 this year, millions of pilgrims will go to the plains of Mount Arafat, praying and thinking about the course of their lives.
This year's pilgrimage will assemble 2,920 pilgrims from Chechnya, compared with more than 3,500 Muslims in 2012. This is because Saudi authorities reduced the quota for foreigners by 20 percent due to reconstruction of the main Mosque of al-Haram.
Pilgrims will be accompanied by officials of the spiritual management group and doctors. All pilgrims are vaccinated against infectious diseases before leaving for Saudi Arabia