By Lt Cdr H Tuppen, UK Royal Navy
MNC-I PAO Plans
For centuries, untold millions of Muslims, men and women from all over the world have made the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Today in Iraq, eligible Muslims aspiring to complete the Hajj apply through their religious endowments to receive official Hajj visas through a lottery process run by the Hajj Committee in the Department of Religious Affairs. The number of visas available to Iraq is determined by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in 2006/7 is expected to be about 30,000. Priority slots in the national lottery for Iraqis selected to go to the Hajj will go to elderly Iraqis starting with 80-year-old citizens.
In Arabic “Hajj” literally means “to set out for a place.” In the Islam world, it refers to the pilgrimage that all physically and financially able Muslims aspire to complete at least once in their lives, in order to perform religious rites (Umrah) in accordance with the method prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad in the Quran.
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