Pilgrims Urged to Consider Charity at Home

Tajik president Imomali Rahmon has urged Muslims to economise by refraining from going on the annual pilgrimage, especially if they have already been to Mecca.

Monday, 20 July, 2009

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Pilgrims Urged to Consider Charity at Home

Tajik president Imomali Rahmon has urged Muslims to economise by refraining from going on the annual pilgrimage, especially if they have already been to Mecca.

The president said that in these troubled economic times, the money people save for the Haj trip would be better spent on their families or for wider charitable aims.

As reporter Shahodat Saipnazarova notes, the Haj is always oversubscribed in Tajikistan, with about 20,000 would-be pilgrims a year applying for a quota of 5,000 places.

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